190. So partial (6000 words please vote~)

Almost got an offensive rebound by Cato.

Liu Xiu protected the ball and avoided Francis' rush.

Francis' frontcourt rush can often interrupt the opponent's fast break. Van Gundy Jr. encourages this and makes good use of it.

The steal was not completed, but Francis prevented Liu Xiu from passing the ball to Miles. When Liu Xiu successfully moved the ball, Mobley had already defended Miles.

It's a pity that I didn't counterattack. I was in a good position just now and grabbed the ball just inside the free throw line.

He glanced at the buff 'Solid as a Rock' and found it was more useful than he expected!

In this era before three-pointers became popular, there were many point guards or shooting guards in the league who were not very good at long-range shooting, which meant that there would be many situations where he would shrink to the free throw line area.

The probability of triggering this buff is naturally very high!

It's just that there were few rebounds here before, so he felt that the probability of triggering was not high.

In fact, it's just because he didn't really learn to grab rebounds in the first half of the season, and he didn't get this buff.

Now, is it possible to grab an extra rebound in this area every night?

If there is still room for improvement, rebounding will be more stable...

Damn! This warden is a point guard!

Liu Xiu came to the front three-point line, and Francis took a step to defend.

It was difficult for Liu Xiu to break out. Randolph leaned against Cato on the right baseline of the three-second zone to ask for the ball. Liu Xiu lobbed the ball over.

Randolph singled out Cato, turned his back and faced the frame and rushed to the sideline of the three-second zone. Before he could completely get rid of the defense, he made a strong shot...

Missed!

Yao Ming protects the defensive rebounds!

One of the tallest and heaviest players in the league, just like the last time they played against each other, Yao Ming alone can fully maximize the Rockets' rim protection ability!

People like Gasol, Duncan, and Randolph dare to rush in and dig in, even if the probability of success is not high.

But Yao Ming, who has plenty of physical strength in the early stages, is really a moving Great Wall in the eyes of rim-attacking players!

Francis received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt, and the Rockets' position was adjusted.

Yao Ming opened up the space and came to the left side of the three-second area. Randolph and Spandinha extended out to protect the frame.

Liu Xiu retreated to the free throw line. Francis broke into the paint no matter how Liu Xiu defended him!

The impact is really strong! Liu Xiu feels almost like guarding Wade.

When he got to the inside, Francis took off against Spandinha and forced a throw... Francis's shot was too reckless, he could score with multiple pull rods, and his touch looked good, but he chose to force it, and the ball was on the basket

After turning around, Luo Le came out...

Yao Ming, who followed up, got the ball and tiptoed to make a tip-in!

The Trail Blazers players who had just played the Mavericks the day before were not used to this sudden increase in mobility. They were much faster than Bradley.

Francis continued to press in the frontcourt and limit the Blazers' serving speed.

The Rockets rely on personal ability + defense to drag and fight strategy!

Yao Ming also changed his style of play tonight, focusing on catching and shooting, and protecting the frame. The main rusher was Cato, Francis and Jim Jackson took turns playing singles, and Mobley did a good job of receiving and shooting...

The Rockets' offense was mediocre at the beginning. Yao Ming scored two points to break the ice. Later, Francis scored 2 points and 1 assist. Mobley scored two points. Jim Jackson scored a three-pointer in isolation. Yao Ming caught the ball and made a mid-range shot.

Was fouled and made two free throws.

The first quarter went into an official timeout at 6 minutes and 31 seconds, and the Rockets only scored 11 points in a little more than half a quarter.

However, the Trail Blazers only scored 9 points in the half!

…

The score was 9 to 11. Maurice Cheeks clapped his hands to encourage the players who returned to the bench.

His goal of using Spandinha to consume Yao Ming was not achieved.

Spandinha playing will inevitably mean that the Blazers' offensive diversity is reduced. If McDyess is replaced, the Blazers' offense will be better, but then Yao Ming will not get even one shot while standing under the basket.

A little bit restrictive.

Moreover, when Spandinha is on the court, Yao Ming does not need to focus on offense. He only needs to defend well to lead the Rockets to compete with the Trail Blazers, thus saving energy and extending the time of the physical strength stage.

Yao Ming has plenty of physical strength + the Rockets' starting lineup is indeed very strong.

This is the reason why the Rockets have repeatedly been able to defeat the strong with the weak.

Maurice Cheeks comforted himself - he fell behind 7-14 at the start last time, and was only behind by 2 points this time, which is pretty good.

He replaced the core combination of Randolph + Liu Xiu with the core combination of Little Flying Squirrel + Harrington.

On the Rockets' side, Yao Ming was replaced, and Francis, Mobley, and Jim Jackson continued to play. The power forward position was replaced by new aid Clarence Witherspoon, who was traded during the All-Star Weekend.

Maurice Taylor moved to center.

Xiao Fan's defensive coaching ability is indeed outstanding.

This time the Rockets' defensive adjustments were in place.

Witherspoon made Harrington, the new core of the Trail Blazers' second team, very uncomfortable!

With a height of 198 centimeters, he moves extremely quickly at the power forward position, and with a weight of 120 kilograms, he can carry people.

Harrington's performance was limited, and the little flying squirrel seemed to be alone, wandering around, unable to let go, and unable to cooperate.

At 9 minutes and 22 seconds into the first quarter, the Trail Blazers called a timeout.

In nearly three minutes, they only scored 4 points!

The defense of the Flying Squirrel, Wesley Persson, Myers, Harrington, and McDyess was not very good to begin with. The Rockets relied on Francis' breakthrough and scored 8 points! 13 to 19

6 points behind.

Francis is in really good shape tonight!

Of these 8 points, 6 were scored by Francis!

If we continue to play like this, we will really fall behind the Rockets by more than ten points in a single quarter!

I originally wanted to rely on offense to force the Rockets to replace Yao Ming in advance, but I didn't expect Witherspoon, who came from a nursing home, to have such an effect.

Maurice Cheeks remembered that Witherspoon was an old subordinate of Van Gundy Jr.!

Clarence Witherspoon, once known as the "Successor of Barkley", was the No. 9 pick in the 1992 class and averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists per game as a sophomore.

Before the second year was over, the 76ers passed on a lucrative six-year, US$30 million contract. You have to know the NBA salary at the time. The contract Pippen signed more than a year ago was seven years, US$21 million, and Jordan got it.

The contract is still the same "sky-high" contract of $16 million over four years.

I never thought that Witherspoon would be at his peak in his sophomore year...

But his strength is still good. He averaged 11+9 per game in the 2000-01 season and got a five-year, US$26 million contract from the Knicks.

In the 01-02 season, when Van Gundy Jr. was the coach of the Knicks, he treated Witherspoon like an aunt, averaging 8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block per game.

Excessive defensive actions and too many fouls are problems on Witherspoon's defensive end, but in this game where the defensive confrontation was full from the beginning, it was just right!

After Van Gundy Jr. left the Knicks, Witherspoon was abandoned. The Rockets traded Witherspoon back in the middle of this season, probably at Van Gundy Jr.'s request.

As Maurice Cheeks expected, Van Gundy was crying because he finally had a backup power forward that he could use easily! He is still a little older, but he is still better than before.

For the Trail Blazers, at this point, Maurice Cheeks handed over the choice to Kevin Plitchar - should he free up the little flying squirrel and let him roam freely? Or should he play steadily?

Kevin Plitchar struggled for half a minute, choosing neither option, and implemented the third option...

…

After the timeout, Liu Xiu was replaced again, Dale Davis and McDyess were replaced on the inside, and Reuben Patterson and Travis Outlaw were also replaced.

The Trail Blazers started to fight against the Rockets on defense!

With Kevin Plitchar's adjustment, Maurice Cheeks knew that in the eyes of his chief assistant, their strategy of using offense to break the Rockets' pressure-pressing strategy was shattered, or they were dragged into it by the Rockets.

A defensive quagmire.

This is an expected situation with a higher probability. It was difficult for them to break out of the defensive quagmire when playing against the Rockets before, let alone now.

but……

"Kevin, your defensive positioning strategy..." Maurice Cheeks stopped.

Kevin Plitchar remained aloof: "It's pretty good, isn't it?"

Maurice Cheeks rubbed his chin and smiled: "I didn't expect you to train players during the game. I remember that you even waited for Zach to train himself before giving him more opportunities. Now you are not willing to

Give Sharif a chance, and give Travis a chance."

"Wouldn't that affect the record? In Zach's case, there was no one with a better talent than him in our team at that time. We had to use less playing time to stimulate him and let him fight for it, otherwise he wouldn't be so fast.

He will think that as long as his progress is faster than that of the young people on the same team, it will be fine.

As for Sharif, his basic skills and game experience are enough for him to complete most of the adjustments through training alone. When he can do better than Travis and Darius, it will be better for us to give him playing time.
To be continued...