On one side is the two-time scoring champion, Tracy McGrady.
On one side is the undrafted player who serves as the Rookie of the Month, Adrian Kwilter.
This counterpoint combination immediately attracted everyone's attention.
For Adrian, guarding a player of Tracy's level will naturally feel pressure. But he is glad that he does not have to face McGrady from the Magic.
Affected by injuries, Tracy's peak period was very short-lived, especially his back injury.
Back injuries are different from other injuries. Once injured, it is difficult to heal. Tracy McGrady has been plagued by back injuries for the second half of his career, plus his shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, elbows, hands, fingers, and feet.
, toes, quadriceps, chest, brain, waist and other parts, as long as they are easily injured by athletes, he has injured almost all of them. After 2004, he has never reached his peak again. He obviously only has two.
Seventeen years old, but his peak period has passed.
However, this is not a reason for Adrian to be careless. Even though he is troubled by a back injury, Tracy McGrady still maintains 80% of his peak performance at this time and is still one of the best scorers in the league.
"Okay, Tracy McGrady caught the ball." Sun Zhengping in the central studio was as excited as if he had been beaten to death: "The Lakers are defending Tracy McGrady, their No. 1 rookie Adrian.
His performance for the past month has been very good, and he also won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month. Let's see how Tracy McGrady will handle this ball. Will he hand it over to Yao Ming? Yao Ming has been stuck in the paint, oh, do it himself
Already..."
It is a rule to give the first ball to the boss. The boss of the Rockets is obviously McGrady, although the Chinese people are wholeheartedly looking forward to Yao Ming...
McGrady's eyes were half-opened and half-closed. Adrian was not sure whether McGrady was sleepy at this time because there were no ditches during the day, or whether it was his unique disdain. He just lowered his body and opened his eyes.
He stretched out his arms, expanded his defensive range as much as possible, and kept one step away from Tracy McGrady as a reaction zone. At the same time, he stared directly at McGrady's body to deal with him.
Next action.
suddenly……
Adrian took off with all his strength without hesitation, but even so he was still slow. Before Adrian's hand reached the designated position, McGrady had already released the basketball in his hand, a pull-up jumper.
Tracy's pull-up was too sudden, and the angle of his back was too large. Although Adrian successfully judged McGrady's movement and tried his best to block the shot, he was still a little short in the end.
, However, when he felt the slight touch from the nail plate of his middle finger, Adrian, who was in the air, still smiled. He finally touched it.
boom!
There was a massacre under the basket, but no one touched the rebound.
Being slightly scratched by Adrian's fingernail, McGrady's shot lost its accuracy, and the basketball that hit the front of the basket bounced straight to the three-point line. Adrian took a big step and pushed Mike
Grady blocked himself behind him, jumped slightly at the same time, and grabbed this free rebound.
Although Yao Ming's speed is a little slower, the rest of the Rockets retreat very quickly, obviously not wanting to leave the Lakers a chance to play fast break. Adrian also has no intention of fast break, but grabs the basketball with one hand
, flicked his fingernails with his right hand.
"Oh, what does Adrian's action mean? Let's take a look at the replay just now. Oh, it seems like Adrian blocked Tracy McGrady's shot just now!" In the studio of Zhongyang Station, Sun Zhengping looked at the replay and suddenly
screamed.
Indeed, it can be clearly seen from the replay. Although the angle is very small, the basketball did have a small change in direction when it passed Adrian's palm.
"He can block this ball. Adrian's physical fitness is extraordinary."
"Yes, yes, there are not many people in the league who can block this ball."
"Maddie is still careless."
"Yes, this ball should be more stable and passed to the inside for Yao Ming to hit."
Not to mention how the two big guys in the central studio were washing Tracy McGrady and complaining to Yao Ming at the same time, the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets, was also replaying the scene just now, plus Adrian flicking his nails.
The meaning of this action is of course very clear.
Looking at the replay footage on the big screen above, even Tracy McGrady's always listless face showed a look of surprise, and he put away his contempt for Adrian.
a bit.
And Adrian, after feeling the discomfort in his fingers subsided, patted the basketball and pushed it to the frontcourt. He was originally going to hand the basketball to Kobe for organization, but he continued to go to the low post, but saw Kobe shake it gently.
Shaking his head. As soon as today's game started, Kobe didn't seem to have any desire to hold the ball.
"Then it's up to me." Adrian nodded slightly. He lowered his body while controlling the ball. Facing Alston's defense, he didn't make any fake moves at all. Instead, he took a big step towards Alston.
The right side cuts directly into the penalty area.
Adrian did not show off his not-so-fancy dribbling in front of Alston, and his fake moves that would definitely have no effect in front of this street ball king and might even be stolen. Instead, he directly used his own advantages.
body of.
With his weight clearing the way, it was as if a rushing tank led Alston directly to the inside. Against Alston, his physical advantages, both in strength and height, were too obvious. If he didn't take advantage of it, he would really
Sorry for this matchup.
Speaking of Adrian's breakthrough, he is quite similar to LeBron James in the league. Both of them use their bodies to clear the way for strong breakthroughs. Fake breakthroughs have never been their first choice. However, the difference is that James is
During the breakthrough process, he can also make changes of direction to deal with some strong defenders. Adrian can also do these actions now, but it is easy to cause mistakes.
However, against Alstom, there is no need to change direction.
He almost ran over Alston's unreliable defense and stepped into the free throw line. Before Juwan Howard rushed to cover the defense, Adrian suddenly took a small step back and gently
Jumping up, the basketball obediently got into the basket. A step-back jump shot, a technique that Adrian has now mastered better and better.
The game time passed quickly between offense and defense. In the first quarter, Kobe never had any offensive desire. Even if he got the basketball, he would more often choose to give it to his teammates. Kobe only took four shots in the first quarter.
, hit one of them, but it was a three-pointer. Because Kobe didn't take a shot for a long time, Battier relaxed his defense slightly, which resulted in Kobe getting an open shot.
Without Kobe taking a shot, Adrian had almost complete possession of the ball on the offensive end. It was obviously inappropriate to go to the low post at this time, so in the first quarter, Adrian stayed in the high post, breaking through for layups or layups.
, or a step-back jump shot after a breakthrough, no matter which offensive method is chosen, it will be difficult for Alston to cause any interference to Adrian.
On the defensive end, it is not easy for Adrian to defend McGrady.
The first shot of the game was interfered by Adrian. In the following game, McGrady quickly cheered up. Facing Adrian's defense, his constantly shaking shoulders were too deceptive.
It's amazing, especially the first step of a breakthrough. McGrady's first step of a breakthrough doesn't look fast, but his stride is surprisingly long. His height and long legs make his breakthrough pace much longer than that of an average shooting guard.
It is difficult for Adrian to keep up with McGrady's first step, and he is often thrown away by Tracy McGrady half a step later. Although he can still maintain the interference effect, it is impossible to block shots.
His breakthrough forced Adrian to stop defending closely and had to let go one step or more, but the gap between Adrian's release of Tracy McGrady was too large, and Adrian had no time to interfere with his pull-up jumper and block the shot.
This is the trouble with defending McGrady. In order to defend his breakthrough, you must open up a certain distance. In order to defend his shot, you must defend closely. How to balance the two to find a distance that can take into account both.
