Chapter 295 The curtain falls, the battle of public opinion!
After Ben's vicious foul, the game returned to normal.
As a result, the dominant Rockets quickly took the initiative.
At the end of the second quarter, they had established a 20-point lead.
In the second half, Mark Jackson began to use the substitutes more.
And Arab League once again got a chance to play.
Also appearing with him was Jeremy Lin.
Mark Jackson received instructions from Shen Fei to have the two of them appear at the same time as much as possible to increase the tacit understanding between them.
Not only did Mark Jackson not object, he also specially designed some pick-and-roll tactics for Arab League and Shu Hao.
After the two came on the field today, they had many good collaborations.
With six minutes left in the third quarter, Shuhao started a pick-and-roll with Ah Lian at the top of the arc.
After breaking it open, Shuhao accelerated to break through inside, while Yi Jianlian bounced outside the three-point line.
Brother Hao looked back at the moon with one move and passed the ball back to Ah Lian. The latter raised the knife and hit a three-pointer.
A minute later, Yi Jianlian returned the favor.
He caught the ball outside the three-point line and attracted two blocks from the Blazers.
Ah Lian had a certain amount of shooting space and could choose to make a hard shot, but he did not take advantage of it and used an unexpected pass to find Jeremy Lin who was cutting inside.
Brother Hao soared into the sky and completed a layup against the Blazers' backup center Joel Przybilla.
After scoring the goal, Shuhao excitedly pointed in the direction of the Arab League and expressed his gratitude for his assist.
In the process of returning to defense, the two high-fived again to celebrate.
Mark Jackson off the court saw it and was happy in his heart.
[The chemical reaction between Jeremy and Yi has been initially established!]
He thought in his heart.
However, this game also exposed some shortcomings of the two.
Let’s talk about the scholar first.
His physical fitness is excellent, whether it is static strength, dynamic speed, or explosive power, he is at the top level in the league.
But Shu Hao has a standard ball-holding and core style of play. Once the basketball is no longer in his hands, his presence on the offensive end is low.
Once he gets the ball, Brother Hao's first choice is usually to attack himself.
Compared with Curry, he gives the impression that he is independent and has difficulty mobilizing the best performance from his teammates.
Let’s talk about Yi Jianlian.
After he obtained the [Lewis Shooting Package], he became obviously more confident on the offensive end, and his efficiency was pretty good among substitute players.
But back to the defensive end, Arab League did not show the defensive ability to match his physical talent.
To put it simply, his playing style is too soft and he is afraid of confronting the opponent's tall inside players.
This also led to the fact that even though the UAE could score good points in a short period of time, the impression of the game was not strong.
Later in the game, the Trail Blazers even began to target Yi Jianlian on the offensive end.
Substitute center Przbilla continuously attacked the Arab League in the paint, making the latter lose his temper.
In the coaching booth on the sidelines, Mark Jackson stroked his forehead helplessly.
Obviously, UAE's performance does not conform to his defense-first basketball philosophy.
If there are no changes in the later period, Mark Jackson will not regard the United Arab Emirates as an important rotation.
Shen Fei in the stands also took note of the performance of Jeremy Lin and Yi Jianlian.
However, he was not as anxious as Mark Jackson.
After all, in Shen Fei's plan, A Lian and Shu Hao are not the Rockets' reliance on winning the championship this season.
They can do their best this season, but if they still don't meet the requirements until the playoffs, then they should stay on the bench.
The most important goal this year is always to win the O'Brien Cup, and other things can be considered in the long term.
With this thought in mind, Shen Fei continued to watch the game with a relaxed attitude.
............
The Trail Blazers players worked very hard, and their starting lineup lasted until the last five minutes of the fourth quarter.
However, the gap in strength between the two teams cannot be made up by hard work.
In the end, the Rockets won the game without a fight at home, 125:108.
However, the focus of this game was not just victory or defeat from the first quarter.
After the game, the coaches of the two teams attended the press conference respectively.
Mark Jackson takes the lead.
When asked why he replaced Ben Wallace when the conflict was at its most intense, he said:
"The game was a bit chaotic at that time. I was worried that the situation would get out of control, so I let Ben, the most experienced player in the team, play."
The reporter was very surprised after hearing this: "You mean, your original intention was to let Ben Wallace come on to stabilize the situation?!"
Mark Jackson nodded.
The reporter called him a good guy in his heart.
"Daben did stabilize the situation, but he scared everyone so much that they didn't dare to mess around..."
one reporter complained.
"Ben's approach is indeed a bit extreme, but fortunately the effect is good."
Mark Jackson supports his players.
"Then do you think today's conflict has something to do with the referee?"
A reporter asked a new question.
"No need to say more about this question, right?"
"If I say it has nothing to do with the referee, then...I will definitely tell lies again."
Mark Jackson said tactfully that he did not want to be fined (NBA players, coaches, and management discuss referees and are generally fined $10,000-30,000).
"So do you think it was the referee who condoned the rough actions of both sides in the early stages of the game that led to Roy's injury and Ben's injury later?"
"Also, although Matthews objectively caused Roy's injury, looking at the slow motion, it seems that he did not do it intentionally and was just clumsy in his movements."
"But Ben Wallace made two intentional injurious actions. The first push directly gave Matthews a concussion; the second push caused serious physical and mental impact on Camby."
"You can see that he looked dull for a long time afterwards."
"What do you think for this?"
A white reporter did not raise his hand for a microphone, but stood up and asked loudly.
Mark Jackson frowned and realized something was wrong.
But he didn't panic and started to respond after thinking for a moment.
"First of all, my players didn't do anything rough."
"It wasn't until Roy was injured that Ben's mood was affected and he did something outrageous."
"But before that, we have always been the injured party, and there is no such thing as condoning the rough actions of both parties."
Mark Jackson said it solemnly, word for word.
"Secondly, if you insist that Matthews' stepping action was unintentional, then why wasn't Ben's first collision the same?"
"He is 36 years old this year. In terms of clumsy movements, he should be more clumsy than Matthews."
"Perhaps Ben was just blocking the baseline to prevent Matthews from passing. Unexpectedly, he moved too slowly and collided with Matthews."
Mark Jackson smiled slightly and argued with reason.
"Okay! Even if he didn't mean it the first time, then the second time he pushed Canby angrily, it couldn't be unintentional, right?"
the white reporter asked.
"I get angry when I talk about this!"
"At that time, Camby may have wanted to help Matthews, so he kept looking at Ben fiercely and kept saying insulting words."
"Although Ben has a good temper, he is not the type to be bullied! In the end, he couldn't help but exploded!"
Mark Jackson said in a sincere tone.
The more the white reporter heard it, the more outrageous it became. He wanted to refute it, but he couldn't think of a way to start with it.
"Let me tell you, the referee should have at least given Camby a t at that time. Mental damage is also hurt."
Mark Jackson was unreasonable and continued.
After finishing this passage, he felt refreshed.
Decades have passed since he was born, and Mark Jackson feels that this is his best speech!
[Strange, I haven't been able to talk like this before...Why did you perform beyond your level today?]
[Is it because you have been with the boss for a long time and have been influenced by it?]
Mark Jackson thought to himself.
The white reporter was speechless and sat back silently.
The Rockets' post-game press conference also ended.
............
After a while, the Blazers' head coach, Mike Millan, walked into the conference room and started the second round of press conferences.
Soon, he was also asked about the referee.
McMillan is an old coach.
Not long after the game started, he discovered the problem with the referee's whistleblowing scale.
When Roy was injured, McMillan also had a premonition that things would develop in a bad direction.
Therefore, when Ben took action angrily, he was not surprised.
Lao Jianghu, what scene have I never seen before?
Moreover, Roy is actually a player that McMillan admires very much, and the relationship between the two is comparable to that of master and apprentice.
When Roy was traded away from the team at the beginning of the season, he was sad for a while.
Later, Roy finally came out of the haze of injury, and McMillan was sincerely happy for him.
The master and apprentice also had a long phone call.
Therefore, McMillan was actually very sad to see Roy injured today.
During the game, he tried hard to put aside his personal emotions, but now, McMillan could no longer hold back the anger in his heart.
"If the referee doesn't act, the players will solve the problem themselves on the field!"
"Matthews did make mistakes and was punished, but besides him and Ben Wallace, someone else has to bear the responsibility!"
McMillan said bluntly.
Unlike the fledgling Mark Jackson, he is not afraid of fines.
The white reporter who had just been criticized in the last episode originally wanted to continue to act like a monster in this episode.
But after seeing McMillan's tough attitude, he swallowed the words silently and did not dare to ask any more questions.
A farce finally ended...
............
That night, the game also caused widespread discussion on social media.
Fans are different from coaches, they have nothing to worry about.
Therefore, the referee's call has become the target of fierce criticism.
Both Rockets fans and Trail Blazers fans, without exception, targeted the referees.
"Are the three referees on the field, one referee and two line referees, all blind? So many fouls are not called?"
"With that scale, isn't it obvious that players from both sides are going to fight?"
"Oh my, my Roy, nothing can happen to you! You have gone through so much pain and hard work to get back on the field, you can't have another accident!"
"Although I am a Trail Blazers fan, I also feel sorry for Roy... Matthews, what are you doing? He is your big brother!"
...
When the public was furious, a comment with a unique angle appeared, and it quickly received a large number of likes and reached the top——
"You guys think... could this be the league's new strategy against the Rockets? I've watched a lot of games this season, and this is the loosest one, and it's a few blocks away from the second-placed players.
!”
In an instant, public opinion was detonated again!