The Rockets have a 5-3 record in eight preseason games.

In these eight preseason games, Da Yao only played three games, and the time he played in each game was not much, and Da Yao, who is over 34 years old in the new season, must be more cautious on the field, and try to avoid games that can be avoided, even in preseason.

Not only Da Yao, but also Wang Chao, Leonard, Butler and other main players, have not played many times in the preseason.

The absolute workhorse of the Rockets in the preseason is Chris. Middleton.

The 14-15 season is the third season of Middleton's career, and the right-hand man next to the future brother Antetokounmpo has now reached a good level under the continuous polishing and training of the Rockets.

Middleton, who mainly focuses on mid-to-long-range projection and off-ball play, can be regarded as one of the most suitable players to play next to Wang Chao, Middleton averaged 9.4 points per game last season, although the score is not high, but the 41% three-point shooting rate is remarkable, when he is in the bottom corner position, the opponent will never dare to let him vacant easily.

In the original 14-15 season, which was also the second season with the Bucks, Middleton has become the main scoring guard of the Bucks, playing an average of 30 minutes per game, he can contribute 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists, shooting 46% from the field and 40.7% from three-point range.

Don't look at the average score of 13.4 points per game, which is not high, but at that time, the Bucks were already the third scoring point, and the score was even higher than that of Antetokounmpo.

On the Rockets, with Leonard at the small forward position and Butler at the shooting guard position, there is also a Chandler on the bench who is not inferior to him in projection ability and is more athletic than him. Parsons, as a result, Middleton has not had many opportunities to show himself.

But in the next new season, things will be very different.

No more Chandler. Parsons and Da Yao have limited playing time due to age and injury concerns, and Middleton has been regarded by Wang Chao as the team's fourth scoring point in addition to him, Leonard, and Butler, and there will be a great improvement in terms of playing time and shooting opportunities in the new season.

As the second leader of the Bucks, Middleton has always been criticized and criticized for being too soft and unable to provide due help to the star brother Antetokounmpo, but if you only look at it as the team's fixed-point shooter, Middleton's strength is definitely beyond the standard, after all, this guy will also be an excellent scorer who can average 20+ points per game for many seasons in the future.

The Rockets' preseason games mainly revolved around Middleton, and the latter did not live up to Wang Chao's expectations, averaging 22.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in eight games, shooting 45% from the field and 39% from three-point range.

Is Middleton's scoring ability so strong?

McHale was dumbfounded, why was every player selected by Wang Chao so ruthless? Not even a second-round pick is a waste, whether it's Thomas Jr. or Chandler Jr., who was drafted in the second round in '11. Parsons, who was drafted by Middleton in '12, surpassed more than 80% of the first-round rookies in their respective draft years.

Wang Chao's ability to discern the British is too strong, and if you look at it according to this situation, this year, Wang Chao asked the team to select the second-round pick center Nikola. Is it possible that Jokic is also a dusty pearl?

McHale doesn't doubt this, after all, Wang Chao's attitude towards Jokic is even more important than when Leonard and Butler were at the beginning, not only specially arranged and formulated a special training plan for Jokic, but also strictly required Jokic to lose weight, and seemed to have great expectations for Jokic.

However, despite opening a lot of backdoors in practice, Jokic is still only a fourth backup center on the team, and he almost completely does not play except for garbage time.

On October 30, the regular season opener officially began.

The Rockets sat at home and ushered in the challenge of the Charlotte Bobcats, no, with the New Orleans Hornets changing their name to the Pelicans, the elf-like Joe gang owner immediately applied for the team to be renamed the Charlotte Hornets, originally the New Orleans Hornets were in Charlotte before the move, and the local fans also had feelings for the name of the Hornets.

Jordan's resurrection is wonderful, the Charlotte Hornets are back in the league, and the team looks to have a bright future.

In 12 years, he was lucky to draw the top pick and select Anthony. Davis, who was selected for Victor in '13. Oladipo, plus the team's original potential point guard Kemba. Walker, the Hornets have put together a lineup that is quite combative.

Last season, the Charlotte Hornets successfully broke into the playoffs, and it was also the second time in the team's history that they entered the playoffs. Walker's outstanding performance still gave Charlotte fans hope for the team's rise.

Indeed, even from the perspective of Wang Chao traverser, the Bobcats lineup is very strong.

Bushy eyebrows brother Anthony. Davis is a representative of the league's top interior in the future, with excellent offense and defense, and at his peak, he can contribute an all-round power forward who can contribute 28 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Oladipo is one of the few strong scorers at the shooting guard position, averaging 23 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game at his peak.

Even Kemba, who had the lowest draft pick among the three. Walker wasn't easy to mess with, averaging 25.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game in the 18-19 season.

As long as these three players do not suffer injuries and grow according to the normal trajectory, in a maximum of three years, the Charlotte Hornets will become a strong team in the East, whether they can have the strength to compete for the championship is hard to say, but at least it is not much inferior to the Raptors, Celtics and other teams at the same time.

It's just that now, the three Charlotte heroes are still a little immature, especially in the opening game against the Rockets, which can be called a kindergarten child being hung and beaten, and all three players were completely suppressed by the Rockets.

At the beginning of the game, Da Yao did not beat Davis, who has outstanding jumping ability and longer arm span than him.

Hornets possession, Kemba. Walker held the ball across the half court, looked at Wang Chao who was standing in front of him, almost covering all his sights, and was a little speechless for a while.

Kemba. Walker is 1.83 meters tall, and he is also a relatively short type among point guards, and he can't see the basket at all in front of Wang Chao, who is 2.06 meters.

Walker's skill for his diminutive survival on the court is speed, which is among the best in the league and allows him to break through any defender with the ball.

But this obviously does not include Wang Chao.

Wang Chao, whose agility and speed are 96, is not inferior to the vast majority of defenders in the league in terms of speed, especially after activating the talent skill Ruying, his defensive steps are more flexible, with long legs and long arms, the defensive radius is terrifying.

Walker, of course, didn't have that self-deprecating idea, and decisively passed the ball to teammate Oladipo, who has the ability to attack with the ball.

Oladipo, who is 1.93m tall, plays as a shooting guard, and averaged 15.6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game for the Hornets last season, the team's third-highest scoring point behind Davis and Kemba Walker.

But at this moment he was also uncomfortable, because it was Jimmy standing in front of him. Butler.

Butler's static talent is very poor among players, but after all, he is also a swingman with a height of 2.01 meters, and he has a size advantage against Oladipo, who is 1.93 meters.

Received Kemba. Oladipo, who passed the ball, had a swarthy face and glanced at Kemba. Walker.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

made a triple threat pose and shook tentatively, but Butler didn't move at all, and Oladipo only felt that Butler in front of him was like a hedgehog, completely unable to speak.

After a slight hesitation, he decisively made a ground pass to Anthony on the inside. Davis hand.

"Big brother, come on!"

Anthony. Davis: "......"

Co-author, you all play me, right?

Walker doesn't play, Oladipo doesn't play, you have to pass the ball to me, will you be okay with me?

Holding the ball with his back to the basket, Brother Thick Eyebrows glanced at the behemoth behind him, speechless.

Anthony. Davis is 2.08 meters tall and weighs 100 kilograms, Da Yao is 2.26 meters and weighs 134 kilograms (after weight loss), the tonnage difference between the two is 34 kilograms, and there is also a huge gap in height, how can he fight?

Tentatively squeezed his back against Da Yao, good guy, not moving at all.

Davis thought for a moment, then suddenly half-turned and cut under the basket and dunked with one hand from the other side of the basket.

The advantage of only 100 kilograms of weight was brought into play at this time, Davis's footsteps were very flexible, much faster than Da Yao, but he was not far from the basket, although the speed was fast, but it could not stand Da Yao's height advantage was too obvious.

When Davis was about to dunk the basketball into the basket, Da Yao arrived and flew Davis's dunk fan out with a hot pot.

The rebound just fell into Wang Chao's hands, and the talent of the fast break talent was activated instantly, and Wang Chao picked up the basketball and rushed towards the front court of the Hornets.

The Hornets players immediately returned to defense, but no one could keep up with Wang Chao, only Kemba. Walker chased after Wang Chao in vain.

On the speed of an instant, Kemba. Walker is still slightly faster than Wang Chao, after all, he is shorter, and his low center of gravity and weight give him a great advantage in short-distance sprints.

But if it is this kind of half-court rush, Wang Chao, who is completely rushed at speed, obviously has to throw Walker a few streets, after all, the length of his legs is different, and Wang Chao often needs Walker to take two steps to catch up.

Seeing that Wang Chao ran farther and farther, Walker, who couldn't catch up, turned his heart sideways, and reached out to grab Wang Chao's tactical foul.

He grabbed Wang Chao's arm and was about to pull it back, but the next moment there was a terrifying force in his hand, and Walker was directly dragged out by surprise, and fell the floor, making a crisp sound of "pop", and then because of inertia, he continued to slide forward in a large shape.

What kind of power is Wang Chao? With the blessing of the talent of a fighting maniac, he can even face James head-on, and he weighs 105 kilograms, which is heavier than Davis, who is just Kemba. Can Walker hold it?

The referee understands the ball, although Walker's foul action is very obvious, but his pulling behavior did not interfere with Wang Chao, and did not cause foul consequences in favor of the defender, so in line with the rules of making the game more exciting, the referee did not blow the whistle.

Wang Chao rushed into the three-point line in two steps, jumped at the free throw line, jumped up, glided in the air for a long distance, and dunked the basketball into the basket.

"Boom ——!"

With Wang Chao's dunk, the audience burst into warm applause and cheers.

Jumping dunks from the free throw line in actual combat are not common, and Wang's super strong jumping and air-staying abilities are vividly demonstrated in this dunk, and Kemba, who previously directly pulled him. The scene where Walker falls to the ground is even more exciting.

The Hornets' next round offense, Anthony . Davis learned to be obedient and didn't run on the inside, but stayed on the outside.

Davis has a shooting range, and while he hasn't developed a three-point shot early in his career, he can shoot more than 45 percent from mid-range to long-range shooting, especially from around 20 feet.

Da Yao's defense under the basket is quite strong, but once Davis pulls out of the box to shoot, he is a little powerless, after all, the difference in mobility between the two is not half a point.

Davis, who received a pass from his teammates at the free throw line, hit a straight shot and hit it solidly to score the first point for the Hornets.

"Good!"

Davis, who scored a goal, shook his fist and looked at Da Yao defiantly.

As one of the most successful centers in the league at the moment, Da Yao, who has two championships, can be regarded as the goal of many interior players in the league to challenge and surpass.

Davis, who is the same NBA champion as Da Yao, is naturally not exempt from vulgarity, even if Da Yao is now 34 years old, his physical condition is not as good as before, and his state has declined significantly, and it is still a very good record to beat the other party.

It's just that Davis wasn't happy for long.

Come and don't be rude, Da Yao is to pull down Davis who shoots from the outside and has no way, but Davis also has no way to take Da Yao.

The Rockets possessed the ball, and after Wang Chao dribbled over the halfcourt, he hoisted the ball to Da Yao who wanted the ball in the inside position without too much hesitation.

Now the Rockets' tactical play is very clear, as soon as the game comes up, the ball must first be handed over to Da Yao to deal with, at this time, Da Yao, who has just appeared on the court, is in the stage of just warming up, feeling hot and full of physical energy.

Maximizing the offensive ability of the Rockets at the beginning of the first quarter of the game while Da Yao's limited physical strength has not been exhausted in frequent switchback runs.

Da Yao, who received the ball in the inside position, just pouted his ass and squeezed back slightly, and Davis behind him was squeezed back and forth.

After dribbling the basketball twice, Da Yao had already come to the basket, raised his hand and jumped slightly, and dunked the basketball into the basket very easily.

After only one round of defense, Anthony Davis couldn't help but look at his bench, looking for someone on the bench who could defend Da Yao.

"Who do you love, anyway, I'm definitely not going to guard against this guy!"

(End of chapter)