The game was beaten 9-0 in less than two minutes, and Adelman immediately called a timeout.
"You must retreat quickly. It doesn't matter if you fail to make a shot. You must retreat quickly!"
"We must be on strict guard against Curry! Everyone listens clearly, we would rather let go of the basket than give Curry another three-point chance!"
"Especially Ariza, your only mission is to shut down Curry! You can't let him continue to do this!"
…
Soon, the timeout time came and the game continued.
It's another Rockets offensive round.
This time Brooks handed the ball to Ariza for a single.
One of the main reasons why Fatty Mo snatched Ariza from the Lakers was to try his luck and see if Ariza has more room for improvement and can develop into a star player.
Anyway, Yao and Mai can't play, and the team doesn't have a core player, so let's bring Ariza up and give it a try.
What if it is possible?
That’s a lot of money!
Ariza is still very young and in good physical condition, so it is indeed possible.
Even if you don't succeed, you won't suffer a loss or be fooled.
Anyway, Ariza's annual salary is not high and his defense is good. Even if he can't play, it will be easy to deal with it.
So one of the Rockets' tactical arrangements is to play singles for Ariza.
The one guarding Ariza is Laga Bell, a strong defender.
Laga Bell can even guard Kobe and can guard him very well. Ariza is nothing.
Ariza took the ball at 45 degrees on the left and made a decisive breakthrough with the ball after three threats.
Ariza's physical condition is indeed good. He is fast, tall and has long arms. He has all the physical conditions that a star player should have.
However, Ariza lacks the skills that a star should possess most: movement and control skills!
The most important requirement for a star to become a star is skilled movement control skills!
What is a star?
On the offensive end, he can provide a lot of output. He can not only score by himself, but also drive his teammates.
How can we produce a large amount of output? How can we motivate teammates?
Is it possible to just rely on open shots?
impossible!
Five people attack and five people defend, why should they give you an open shot?
Are we going to keep giving you opportunities?!
Do you want all your opponents to give you open looks?
How can it be?!
Even if you are a role player, as long as you hit two or three open three-pointers in a row, the opponent will focus on you!
Therefore, if you want to have a lot of output, you must hold the ball and create opportunities one by one!
If you want to create open shooting opportunities for your teammates, you need to have outstanding one-on-one abilities and attract double-teams!
The premise of all this is outstanding ability to hold the ball and hit one another!
The foundation, or prerequisite, for outstanding one-on-one ability with the ball is skilled movement and control skills!
No matter who is defending, you can take whatever luck you want!
Dribbling the ball with sudden starts and stops is like drinking water, worshiping Buddha and changing directions is like eating, dribbling past people is like walking down the street. Only in this way can you say that you are good at playing one-on-one!
This is not outstanding!
If you want to stand out, you must add one more thing to this, and that is accurate shooting!
Otherwise, no matter how good your dribbling skills are, what can you do if someone takes two steps back?
Everyone is watching you like a monkey, changing directions, starting and stopping suddenly, and it is not too late to make defensive moves after people admire your various fake moves. Then it is useless no matter how good your movement control skills are.
Ariza's problem is that his movement control skills are not good.
Ariza's shots are good, but they are basically open three-pointers. His layups are okay, but most of them are fast break opportunities.
When someone is standing in front of you when shooting, your shooting percentage drops sharply. You can start quickly, but you can't stop. You can stop, but you have to collect the ball. This is Ariza's problem.
As an experienced defensive player who has played many games against the Lakers as an opponent, Laga Bell is aware of Ariza's problem.
Ariza held the ball and rushed in. Laga Bell was already prepared. He knew that shooting was not an option in Ariza's three-threat action.
Ariza was very fast, and Laga Bell was not too slow to retreat. The two of them were one step inside the free throw line in no time.
Further ahead are Lopez and Scola.
Scola stood on the right edge of the penalty area, and Lopez stood in the middle of the penalty area, two steps away from each other.
In front of Ariza is Laga Bell, and in front of him is Lopez. In this case, it is impossible to go inside.
Ariza had no choice but to stop the ball.
But Lagaber was already prepared. Seeing Ariza stop the ball, he quickly spread his arms, not giving Ariza any space to shoot.
The first instruction all coaches give to point guards is not to stop the ball once you dribble it!
Because once you collect the ball, there are only two things left to do: shooting and passing!
Any basketball player knows this, so as long as the opponent stops the ball, he will definitely step forward to block the shot.
Unless you are Yao Ming, facing a player like Little Potato or Boykins, you can shoot the ball without interference.
Otherwise, once the ball is stopped, you have only one option left, and that is to pass the ball!
The problem is that the opponent also knows this!
Therefore, once the dribbling stops, even if you pass it out, it is unlikely to be a good opportunity!
Deng Fang had specifically mentioned this point to the players before the game.
As long as the two guards Brooks and Lowry are not holding the ball to attack, everyone else is on defense and should not help defend!
Ariza stopped to look for someone to pass the ball, but every teammate was defensive in front of him, so he had no chance to pass the ball.
But Ariza has already reached the penalty area, which has a three-second limit!
Ariza stood on one foot and turned around three times without finding anyone, so he finally had to make a throw.
As expected, the basketball was collected by Lopez without even touching the frame.
This time the Rockets retreated quickly and the Warriors had no chance for a fast break.
Curry dribbled to the frontcourt and handed the ball to Prince.
Ariza defended Curry, and even if Curry didn't have the ball in his hands, Ariza never left.
Obviously, after the previous two minutes of competition and Adelman's reminder, Ariza paid more attention to Curry.
I'm not going to do anything, I'm just going to protect you!
If you can, let others defeat us!
Curry quickly started to walk around the crowd with his bare hands, Ariza followed closely, and other Rockets players also blocked Curry.
After going around twice, Curry couldn't find a good empty-hand opportunity.
Curry had to go to the top of the arc again to take the ball.
Lopez quickly came up to block Ariza with a tacit understanding.
The defender in front of Curry once again became Hayes.
This time Hayes did not dare to retreat. He stood on the three-point line and opened his right hand, staring at Curry.
Lopez's cover on the other side was very good, and Ariza had some trouble getting around it.
Curry dribbled the ball and took two steps to the side, and Hayes quickly followed.
Curry dribbled the ball quickly and swayed from side to side, while Hayes kept changing his small steps.
However, after all, Hayes is still a center, and after a few moves, Curry opened up a space.
Curry didn't hesitate, raised his hand and shot!
Reggie Miller in the commentary box shouted again: "Wow! Another three-pointer! Curry is crazy! He only shoots three-pointers, this is the rhythm that will kill the Rockets!"
