At 8 a.m. Beijing time on November 19, 2017, the Rockets played the Memphis Grizzlies again.

105 to 83.

In the fourth meeting between the two sides this season, an atypical Houston Rockets team came out on top.

The night before, at the B.B. King Blues Club.

"And what kind of man is your son, Karonsky III?" Continuing to chat with the second, Yu Xiaochun was still very curious about the Los Angeles man he was about to meet.

"He's not quite like us, with me, with his grandfather." The old man on the opposite side took a sip of coffee, I don't know if it was the bitterness of American coffee, or remembered some past, and his eyes behind the tortoiseshell glasses suddenly became cloudy.

"He's an atypical Kalonsky."

1/

"Atypical?"

"Hmm."

"Didn't you say he was doing something to improve the player's stats? Is that any different from yours? ”

"That's why I said he and I and my daddy, Scott Kalonsky, were not at all the same way."

"Why? Isn't that part of your job as a data strategist? Yu Xiaochun became more and more confused when he heard this.

"Nature versus nurture, have you heard of this thesis?"

"The controversy between innate heredity and nurture? Of course I did. Yu Xiaochun nodded, this is a long-standing old proposition about human behavior and psychology in the Western world, focusing on whether a person's growth and behavior are determined by innate genes, or more influenced by the acquired environment. But what does this have to do with this family?

Karonsky II took off his tortoiseshell glasses, which had been broken and entangled, took out a beige handkerchief from his arms, wiped the lenses slowly, and said: "The scoring system I use to evaluate players is inherited from Scott Sr. There are five dimensions, do you remember? ”

"Well, I remember. Physicality, technique, mental strength, basketball awareness, and talent. Since the last time he talked to this old man, Yu Xiaochun has been thinking about these rating items almost every day, how could he easily forget them.

"Then do you remember me saying that I found you because of your friend Yang's talent, a leader in twenty years?"

"Of course. Count two, you name it. ”

"Well, that's right." Kalonsky II put the cleaned glasses back on the bridge of his nose, but his eyes looked a little lonely under the clear lenses, "Putting talent into the player's evaluation system is the original of Kalonsky I, and I have insisted on it." Our philosophy is that we believe that it is the talent that can really affect a player's development limit, rather than physical fitness, technique, mental strength, and basketball awareness. A player may be very capable of fighting, but his future development may be limited by talent and will not be able to make great progress. On the other hand, a player may have a low starting point, such as Yang Yiming, but if he is extremely talented, we will not only recommend it to the team, but also correct this deviation through the 'talent item' in our rating system. ”

"Nature, the Theory of Talent." Yu Xiaochun, who has already understood a little, concluded.

"Yes. But my son, he's not a giftist. ”

"He believes that all stats can be adjusted the day after tomorrow!" Yu Xiaochun completely understood.

"Well, that's what makes him atypical." Kalonsky II motioned for the waiter downstairs to come up and pay, taking the opportunity to avoid the enthusiastic gaze on the other side, and his tone was a little helpless, "But you better go and meet for a meeting." What if it helps..."

2/

The Rockets and Grizzlies battled defense.

An atypical Houston Rockets.

"We all know that if you want to go far in the playoffs, you have to have defense." Head coach Mike D'Antoni said proudly after the game, with even a smug smug slick in his words, "Defensively you have to be a bear, and we're here tonight." ”

The head coach is right, the focused Rockets have suppressed the Grizzlies who are known for their defense in every way.

In the previous game, the sword rained down, and the Suns did not defend each other, and the Dugu defeat-seeking Rockets team, who scored 142 points on offense and defense, turned into a Tai Chi master in this game, turning all the Grizzlies' offense into the void and turning it into futility.

In terms of defensive statistics, not only are they better than the Grizzlies in the number of blocks and steals, but the latter's shooting percentage is also limited to 36%, and the three-point shooting is even more sluggish, at only 25.9%.

I remember a former NBA player saying that defense is like a positive contagion that infects everyone involved. Yang Yiming was deeply touched tonight. The team scored just 105 points in total, below the season average, and his scoring stats weren't impressive, with 3-of-8 three-pointers, 1-of-3 two-pointers, and both free throws, for 13 points, plus five rebounds and one assist. But on the defensive end, he delivered three blocks and three steals, both personal highs.

Rockets veteran Chandler Parsons, rookie Dillon Brooks, and even Marc Gasol have all been hit.

The second quarter is the usual time for Yang Yiming to play again, the Grizzlies' pass is not flowing smoothly under the pressure of the Rockets, Parsons and Brooks both dribble on the outside first, and after blocking and dismantling with teammates, they did not open up suitable shooting opportunities, but were forced to move farther away from the central axis of the court, and could only stop the ball to find transmission opportunities and reorganize. Yang Yiming saw this fleeting opportunity, judged the only remaining passing route of the two, stabbed out diagonally, directly intercepted the basketball, and completed two steals!

In the fourth quarter, in another offense by the Grizzlies, center Marc Gasol and the guard successfully blocked and replaced the defender, holding the ball to face James Harden, who was one size smaller, and arching his back to the inside, ready to rely on his size advantage to eat! Unexpectedly, although Harden was 20 centimeters shorter than Gasol and weighed nearly 15 kilograms, he sank his body and resisted Gasol's strong beating, and the latter survived again and didn't take much advantage, so he changed his strategy and prepared to shoot sideways with a half-hook.

With Gasol's height and arm span, coupled with the bonus of a wide body, this shot is defenseless, and the Rockets only have to resign themselves to fate, but they didn't expect that due to Harden's successful resistance, a defensive space was left for a reasonable collision area under the basket.

Such as a volleyball double block. It seems to be a joint double shot only in a football player!

One black and one yellow two big hands, I don't know who touched the basketball first, but visually it was indeed the two of them who fanned out the ball at the same time.

Synchronized to the extreme, two clear sky thunderbolts!

The ball was fanned straight back to the Grizzlies in the second half.

The home fans were in an uproar.

The referee's whistle blows, and the ball is judged! Two points are valid.

Again there was an uproar.

But it doesn't matter anymore. The Rockets' rainbow defensive momentum, for the first time this season, is like a prairie fire, and it has become unstoppable.