1/

Durant scored another 38 points.

But Team Rocket won!

Beat the Warriors by a full 22 points!

In Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets tied the score at 1-1.

How does the rocket do it? It all started in the third hour after the first game. At 12 o'clock in the morning, Coach D'Antoni called.

"Yiming, I'm the coach."

"Coach D'Antoni, I know. After today's game, I kept thinking..."

"You don't have to say it yet, listen to me." Despite the frustrating loss, Coach Mike D'Antoni's voice is still sonorous. He interrupted Yang Yiming's confession and said, "Don't be discouraged. I'm calling to finalize one of the most important arrangements for G2: I'm going to let you continue to defend Durant. But your will matters. ”

"I..."

"If you're out of confidence, that's okay, I can arrange Trevo [Ariza] and I'll let you join the rotation." The coach was categorical and non-negotiable.

"Of course I'd like to give it a try, but..."

"But what? Are you worried that you won't be able to guard him? ”

"Yes." Yang Yiming held his mobile phone and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the bedroom, the evening breeze outside the window was light, the clouds were so thick that they covered the moon, and it was pitch black as far as the eye could see. Durant seems to be like a boss ambushed in the dark, waiting for the hunter who is not trying to help himself, and once he steps out of the isolated glass window and leaves the shelter of light, he will be swallowed up in one bite.

"Listen to a bang." Coach D'Antoni's voice slowed down, and his tone softened, "I also know that I can't defend Durant." We all know that the whole league, 30 teams, more than 500 players and so many coaches, managers and scouts know that they can't defend him. But that's not my problem – my question is, if I arrange for you to defend against him, would you still be willing to do it? ”

"Of course!"

"Well, that's the answer I wanted. What did you want to say to me at the beginning of the call? ”

"Me?"

"yes, you just said, 'You've been thinking'... What do you think? D'Antoni reminded Yang Yiming.

"Oh, after the game I was thinking about today's game. I've allowed him to score too much, and my defensive mission has basically failed, so I'd like to review you. ”

"There's no need for that. The series has only just begun. Letting Durant score more is not necessarily a bad thing. Gather at the training hall tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Four short sentences, crisp and neat, without dragging the mud and water. Before Yang Yiming could refute, the phone was hung up by the other side.

2/

At 8 a.m. on May 16, in the video analysis room in the Houston Rockets training hall.

Yang Yiming reported as instructed, and when he arrived, he found that a group of people had gathered, including general manager Morey, head coach D'Antoni, James Harden, Chris Paul, etc.

After last night's defeat after a big fight, the people in the room could see that they didn't have a good rest. No one was laughing in the room, and all expressions were serious, but even so, Harden, Paul and others still took turns to come up and high-five and hug Yang Yiming.

Coach D'Antoni stood in the deepest part of the room, next to the projection screen, flipping through the notebook he was holding for recording. Seeing Yang Yiming coming in, he also bowed his head to him and said hello from afar.

It didn't take long for the Rockets to have all the players in place. I only heard the general manager Morey clear his throat, and the room suddenly fell silent:

"Everyone is here. Let's cut straight to the point—"

"How to fight the second game." Coach D'Antoni picked up the conversation and switched the G1 game to the screen, saying, "First of all, I want you all to forget about G1. Forget about it, 1 should be somewhere in your mind, and you don't need to take it out and reminisce about it all the time, but it's going to work for the rest of the series, and it's going to work in the conscious way. ”

Yang Yiming and his teammates nodded silently. Although the head coach expressed a bit of subtlety, he actually wanted them not to be distracted too much by the defeat, but more to use the first game as a material for learning and adaptation, which can be used to improve the following series.

But he didn't expect that coach D'Antoni would mention himself immediately.

"In the second game, I will also arrange Yang Yiming to defend Durant."

As soon as the coach's words fell, the eyes of all his teammates shot at Yang Yiming, but they immediately turned back, because Coach D'Antoni spoke again:

"Yiming, I've already communicated with him. He is confident and willing to continue to take on this important responsibility. I just want to see what other people think, do you guys have any ideas? The coach's question is not so much like a question sentence waiting for a reply, but more like a rhetorical question that is not allowed to be refuted.

"Coach!" Someone in the crowd of players raised their hands. Yang Yiming followed the sound and found that it was none other than Paul, one of the leaders of the team. "Paul, you say."

"The problem of 1 is definitely not Yang Yiming's problem alone. I think all of our Rockets teammates here agree on that. Paul said, and the others echoed him.

"Yes." A deep voice came from the other corner, and you didn't have to look to know that it was the other boss of the Rockets, James Harden. He said: "I don't think it was Durant who beat Yiming. Even if he can score 37 points from Yang Yiming, he alone can't beat our whole team. It's like I can't beat the Warriors alone. Defeat is the defeat of the whole team. Even if Durant scores 50 or 60 points, he can't advance to the Finals alone. ”

"James is right." The concluding remarks were made by General Manager Morey, who had just started the meeting. Before joining the sports industry, he was a well-known doctor of statistics, and it was he who used the scientific method of data analysis to build the current appearance of the Rockets, not only did he hand-pick most of the players on the floor, but even the tactical style of the Rockets was also greatly influenced by his research results. Just listen to him really mention the statistical results, saying: "Historically, no star has been able to win a series in the playoffs solely on the basis of individual scoring performances. ”

Yang Yiming secretly thought that Morey's "statistics" were really based on historical data, or if he compiled them to encourage the whole team. But it is true that with his basketball knowledge, he has never heard of any superstar who can win a series without the help of his teammates, and instead shoot one person to strangle the other points and win.

"One point burst is something our system can fully bear, but in G1 we gave the Warriors a chance at other points." Morey continued, "We're not afraid of Durant scoring alone, we're just afraid of him leading the team to score. ”

All of the Rockets' teammates were almost the same as Yang Yiming, nodding thoughtfully at the same frequency.

D'Antoni further explained: "So the Warriors thought they could rely on Durant to score at will at this point — and giving them that illusion is not a bad thing in terms of overall strategy. The point is - the others..."

"I support Yiming to defend against Durant-" I saw a bald man standing up on the ground, it turned out to be PJ Tucker, who was known for his bravery, and he said angrily: "The rest of the guys, Mike, you can rest assured that you can leave it to us." ”

Tucker had a shiny head, big shoulders and round hips, his hands on his waist, and he couldn't stop panting. His cheeks bulged like a fish, his bald head like an Arhat, and his anger as if he had all the strength to find someone to fight—he looked around the room and saw that there were all friendly troops around him, and there was no one to fight with, but this funny look made all serious faces laugh.

"Tell us what to do, Coach!" Tucker said.