Although Reggie Miller secretly scolded McHale, McHale had no intention of sending Wen Hao on the court. Like Reggie Miller, he saw the Rockets' current problems, but his solution was
Instead of sending Wen Hao, Beverley, who has better defense, is put on the court. As long as Beverley is on the court, he will definitely use his mad dog-style defense to restrict Dragic.
But obviously, McHale was wrong. When Beverley came on the court, although he restricted Dragic with his crazy style of play, the other points of the Suns were already open, only restricting Dragic at all.
It was useless. Finally, at the end of the first half, Phoenix once again widened the point difference to 30 points.
There was silence at the Toyota Center. We were trailing by 30 points at halftime. How could we still play this game? How could the fans watch this?
Elena, Annie, and Yu Songmi Harper who came to the scene were all cursing McHale secretly in their hearts: Why not let Wen Hao play?
In Wen Hao's hometown, the villagers were shouting and cursing: "This damn old man, Hao Wa is so good at fighting, why don't you ask him to fight?"
"Hao Wa must have stolen the buns from your house. You always target Hao Wa."
"If I were Hao Wa, I would beat up that damn old coach. What a lousy coach."
Wen Hao's father did not speak, he was silent. It's not like he has never seen this situation before. It seems that the coach still doesn't trust Wen Hao. But now that Wen Hao is not allowed to play, the Rockets are 30 points behind. Alas, I hope the coach will do the same in the second half.
Let Wen Hao come on stage.
At this time, there was also silence in the Rockets locker room. The air seemed to be solidified. Everyone could hear their own heavy breathing, but no one spoke.
McHale lowered his head and kept scratching something on the tactical board, but after scratching it once, he erased it impatiently, then scratched it again, and then erased it again. He repeated this several times, but he had no clue. Now the Suns have full firepower.
No matter what tactics you use, you can't stop them, especially their three-pointers, which are like crazy. The playoffs are a defensive game, and now you can't guard them at all. Isn't this a sure defeat?
…
The silence continued, with only the breathing of the players rising and falling in the air. After a long time, Howard finally couldn't bear it any longer. He said directly to McHale: "Coach, do I think it's time to consider letting Wen Hao play in the second half?"
Howard's words were like a stone falling into a calm lake, causing ripples. The Rockets players all stood up.
"Coach, let Wen Hao try it." Jones, who has a good relationship with Wen Hao, said.
"Coach, let Wen Hao play, after all, he played very well in the regular season." Parsons also said.
"Coach, let him try." Beverley, who replaced Wen Hao in the starting lineup, also said at this time. He thought that although he was good at defense, his grasp of the rhythm today was really difficult to convince the crowd.
Jeremy Lin also said to McHale: "Coach, just let Wen Hao try it. Anyway, the game is like this now. Just let him try it, maybe it will work but not necessarily."
Dayao glanced at Wen Hao and said to McHale: "Coach, I think Wen Hao should give it a try. Although his defense is not outstanding, he is very good offensively. He can drive our Rockets all the way."
team’s offense.”
McHale finally looked away from the tactical board at this time. Seeing so many Rockets players pleading with him, he felt a little undecided. He glanced at the two assistant coaches, who, like him, were also undecided.
.So McHale finally looked at Harden, who had never expressed his stance. The reason why McHale never let Harden
Wen Hao played because the playing styles of Wen Hao and Harden were incompatible. Harden is a player who needs the ball in his hands, and although Wen Hao can play without the ball, he can only play when the ball is given to him.
Only in this way can it maximize its effect and mobilize the Rockets players to the greatest extent. But in this way, Harden's data will be affected.
Therefore, when playing against a relatively weak team like the Suns, McHale does not intend to send Wen Hao on the court. This is because Harden is likely to be unhappy, which will have a great impact on the game after the second round. If Harden
If Deng gives up his job, the Rockets will suffer huge losses. Although the possibility of this is very slim, we have to guard against it.
Harden saw McHale looking at him, and everyone's eyes were also focused on him. He was silent for a moment, and finally nodded and said silently: "Coach, let Wen Hao try." Although Harden said to Wen Hao
He was unhappy, but when it came to the outcome of the playoffs, he had to put aside his dissatisfaction.
Seeing this, McHale finally made up his mind and looked at Wen Hao: "Wen Hao, you will play in the second half. You must not let them open up the score again."
Seeing so many teammates coming to intercede for him, Wen Hao obviously placed great expectations on himself. His blood surged in his heart. He clenched his fists and nodded heavily to the coach and teammates: "Don't worry, everyone, I will definitely work hard."
Do your best.”
McHale said to Wen Hao: "But there is one thing I want to remind you. I hope you are mentally prepared. The playoffs are a defensive game. Your defense is only average, and Dragic is the kind of defender who sticks to defense.
As a good player, you have to find a way to solve this problem."
Although the rest of the Rockets have great expectations for Wen Hao, they can't help but worry about Wen Hao. They don't know how Wen Hao, who is not very good at defense, can defeat Dragic, who is very defensive.
At this time, Wen Hao laughed softly and said, "If defense doesn't work, I will use offense."
McHale also chuckled twice: "Your idea is too naive. Since the NBA, there have been playoffs every year. So many years of playoffs have proven a sentence: You can't win a season without defense.
In the second game, even the offense must be based on defense. Just relying on offense will not work at all."
The Rockets players all nodded. Although they all wanted Wen Hao to play, the coach was right. Without defense, they would not be able to survive in the playoffs.
Wen Hao shook his head and said: "Coach, why do we have to follow the previous rules? Experience is dead, people are alive. If our offense is much better than theirs, can we just rely on offense?
Win? Moreover, the Suns' defense is not very good. As long as we use strong firepower to drive our momentum and impress them, I believe we can defeat the Suns."
When McHale heard this, he suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment in his heart. Yes, he had followed his previous experience too much and had formed a fixed mindset. He didn't even think about breaking through the previous tradition. Now that Wen Hao said this, it seemed that
Open a window in your heart, and outside the window is a brand new world.
When the Rockets players heard Wen Hao's words, many of them nodded in agreement.
McHale finally made up his mind: "Wen Hao, I won't make any plans for the second half. I will just do what you say and use our powerful firepower to make them tremble. We must do it!"
"Don't worry, coach, I will definitely do it!" Wen Hao said firmly.
In contrast, in the Suns locker room, their coach Hornacek said to the players: "We did a very good job. We led by 30 points at halftime. Victory is already beckoning to us. But we can't
Take it lightly, and you must continue to suppress the Rockets
team, causing them to completely lose momentum. McHale is a traditional coach, and he will continue to strengthen their defense in the second half, but our three-pointers have already been missed. As long as you maintain your confidence in the three-pointer, I believe we will definitely
They will be killed."
If you have words, you will be long, if you have nothing to say, you will be short. Soon, the second half of the game began.
When the Rockets came to the sidelines, they looked up and saw that one-fifth of the auditorium was already empty. Some of these people had gone to the bathroom for a break and had not come back. Most of them were watching the Rockets trailing by 30 points at halftime.
There was no hope anymore and they had already driven home.
The game between the two sides started. The Rockets sent Wen Hao.
"Oh, McHale finally figured it out." Reggie Miller said. I believe that countless fans have the same idea as him at this time.
"Oh, the savior of the Rockets has appeared." Big-mouthed Charles Barkley said with a touch of ridicule. Of course, his ridicule was not directed at Wen Hao, but at Reggie Miller.
Miller smiled softly and said: "Whether he is the savior or not, you will know by watching his game."
At this time, the Rockets served, and Wen Hao came to the frontcourt. Facing Dragic's defense, he opened his hand and scored a three-pointer.
"Bang."
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
Barkley laughed loudly: "The savior is indeed a savior. He throws three-pointers randomly as soon as he comes up. He is really the savior of the Suns, hahahaha..."
Reggie Miller glared at Barkley and wanted to refute but couldn't find the words. After all, Wen Hao didn't score.
At this time, the Suns launched an attack, and Dragic hit a three-pointer, widening the point difference to 30 points. Barkley was even more proud, almost humming a tune and looking at Reggie Miller.
McHale's heart beat: "Wen Hao, don't attack casually. Find the right opportunity before attacking."
When McHale was thinking this, Wen Hao had already dribbled to the frontcourt again. Dragic, who was guarding him, was not too forward. He knew that Wen Hao had just come up and had not moved yet, so there was no need to worry at all.
But when Wen Hao came outside the three-point line, he raised his hand and hit another three-pointer.
Dragic felt strange. Although this kid didn't make a three-pointer just now, where did the confidence in his eyes come from when he shot again? As if he would definitely hit it?
"Uh-huh."
The refreshing sound proved Dragic's idea, Wen Hao hit a three-pointer.
Dragic was stunned for a moment, but didn't think much about it. He quickly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, took another shot from outside the three-point line, and hit the basketball steadily. The point difference was still 33 points.
But he wasn't overjoyed yet. Wen Hao dribbled all the way to the front court. Without the Suns' defense, he raised his hand and hit the ball again!
Dragic failed to prevent it and was very surprised.
What surprised him was not that Wen Hao hit another three-pointer, but the strong confidence in Wen Hao's eyes when he shot the three-pointer. Where did that come from? (To be continued.)
