Chapter 787 James Harden, the Man Who Made People Want to Cry

The Seattle SuperSonics and Rockets are both competing teams in the Western Conference playoffs this season. Although the SuperSonics have now opened up the gap with the Rockets, this game is still a two-game match.

Therefore, this game against the Rockets is still very important for the SuperSonics.

The Rockets last season were an almost perfect team without any shortcomings.

Although the SuperSonics eliminated the Rockets in last year's playoffs, it is impossible for the SuperSonics to defeat that perfect team without the help of "Ten Mou Qi Jin".

What's more, the SuperSonics this season don't even have Durant.

However, the current Rockets are not the perfect Rockets of last season.

So old Nelson is still confident that he can try to make the Rockets lose three games in a row in this game.

To defeat the Rockets, you need to hold the Rockets back in the first three quarters.

The Rockets' starting lineup is strong, with balanced offense and defense, and balanced inside and outside. Few teams in the league can compete with the Rockets in the starting lineup.

The SuperSonics' starting lineup can't do this either.

In addition to Ibaka, the Sonics' starting lineup includes Milicic, Millsap, Yes and Rondo, all of whom are very good.

But in front of the Rockets, the Sonics' starting lineup is somewhat passive.

Even the Sonics' strongest inside players Milicic, Millsap and Marc Gasol, the combination of these three people does not have such a big advantage against the combination of Yao Ming, Scola and Carl Landry on the bench, and is even at a disadvantage.

Now, whether it is Gasol or Milicic playing center, the Sonics will be suppressed by Yao Ming. These two can withstand almost all the centers in the league, except for two and a half, and these two really have no way.

After his center was suppressed, Millsap did not have much advantage in the singles with Scola, and was even slightly at a disadvantage, not to mention the help of Scola and Yao Ming after defeating Milicic or Gasol.

The Sonics and Rockets also played a game before. In that game, the Sonics were defeated by the Rockets' inside combination, and they even collapsed without dragging on the critical moment of the fourth quarter.

This time, old Nelson obviously changed his tactical thinking.

In the last game between the two teams, the Sonics' tactic was that Milicic, Millsap and Gasol were a defensive inside combination, so when facing the Rockets, they did not give the Rockets' two inside combinations pressure on offense, and passively accepted the pressure of the Rockets' inside throughout the whole process.

For basketball games, unilateral passive beating is really a disadvantage unless you are the strongest defensive player in history like Bowen.

If you can withstand the opponent, it's fine, but if you can't withstand the opponent, you will really be beaten. The Sonics' inside line was beaten in the last game.

But that was when there was no other way. The choice of passive defense in the last game was not because old Nelson did not want to put pressure on Yao Ming and Scola on the offensive end. It was really that the team's three inside players were not so reliable at that time, especially Milicic, who needed to contain Yao Ming, was still a little unreliable.

But Milicic has made great progress compared to that time.

After defeating Larry Brown in the Charlotte Hornets, Milicic, who came out of the shadow of Larry Brown, has changed a lot.

Let Milicic play Yao Ming on the offensive end, and old Nelson does not need Milicic to really beat Yao Ming. He does not need to beat Yao Ming, he just needs to distract Yao Ming's attention on the defensive end, and then give Marc Gasol or Millsap the opportunity to play Scola.

Yao Ming can help Scola on the offensive end, there is no way, Yao Ming can really blow up any inside player one-on-one on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, Yao Ming must not be allowed to help Scola again.

The Sonics need to make Scola feel pressure on the defensive end, leaving more of his physical strength on the defensive end, and limiting his performance on the offensive end.

Marc Gasol and Millsap's offensive strength is different from Milicic, and the gap is not small. Both of them are all-around offensive players, who can play back and shoot. Relatively speaking, Marc Gasol's singles ability is much worse. Although Gasol looks very fierce, he is indeed very fierce on the defensive end, but on the offensive end, Marc Gasol is completely different from his appearance. He is a center who likes to play in a floating manner and use his height advantage to shoot and assist from the outside. As for back-to-back singles...

Gasol really doesn't play back-to-back singles. Even if he really plays back-to-back singles, it's a turnaround jump shot or something like that. It's better to pull up in front of Scola than to play a turnaround jump shot against him.

If Gasol's back-to-back singles ability is very strong, Nelson is definitely ready to use Gasol in the starting position in this game.

Although the starting small forward position was contracted to Ibaka by Yes, he couldn't make any adjustments, but he had complete autonomy in other positions.

He could make any adjustments according to his ideas.

Compared with Gasol, although Millsap is not as big and strong, and his height is not as good as Marc Gasol, Millsap's offensive skills are very comprehensive, not as biased as Marc Gasol. Although his various skills are not first-class now, he can shoot three-pointers whether it is face-to-face shooting, back-to-the-basket offense, or even organization and passing.

It can be said that Millsap is now in the SuperSonics. He seems to be a little different in height, basic strength, speed and other height talents. He is just like Duncan and can do everything. Everything seems to be a quasi-first-class young Duncan.

Anthony previously said that Millsap has reached the All-Star level. Many people disagreed, but within the SuperSonics, most people are willing to believe that Millsap, a player who once entered the league with his PP, is now really He has grown into a player who is at least a quasi-All-Star.

It is also precisely because Yes entered the league because he took a fancy to his PP. Therefore, compared with his other offensive skills, Paul Millsap's post-up offensive skills may have reached the top level in the league. This is the most polished by him. With careful skills, he was blocked six times by Howard in one game, and he is extremely confident in his big shots and back attack.

"That's why Yes chose me!"

“That’s also the source of my confidence!”

These are Millsap's exact words.

"Paul, play with him!"

After Milicic's attack on Yao Ming was blocked, he threw the basketball in his hand to Millsap on the other side. Facing Millsap's strong attack, Scola was helpless. He even defended twice. He couldn't wait for Yao Ming's defense to come over, but Millsap directly drove him to the basket and completed a dunk.

As a kaleidoscope on the offensive end, Scola's defensive skills are no problem, but Millsap's offense this time will not play tricks with him at all, okay!

"The start of this game is a little different from the last time the two teams met!"

Although the regular season rankings of the SuperSonics and Rockets this season are not as good, the match between the SuperSonics and Rockets is still the most watched China Derby in the country.

When the SuperSonics played against the Rockets in the last game, Zhang Liangzhi and Su Qun still have fresh memories. The SuperSonics were defeated by the Rockets' inside line as soon as they came up.

At the beginning of this game, the Sonics took the initiative to attack the Rockets' inside line.

With Yes being double-teamed by Roy and Rasheed Wallace, two very good defensive players, the offensive level of other Sonics players when facing the Rockets is very, very important.

In the last game between the two teams, why did the SuperSonics collapse so quickly?

Yes was double-teamed by Rasheed Wallace and Roy and could not stand up immediately. The combination of Milicic, Millsap and Marc Gasol was completely defeated by the combination of Yao Ming and Scola Landry. Suppressed, in the end, the Sonics had to rely on Rondo and Ibaka to step up and score...

If this is not defeated, it would really be unreasonable.

After the Sonics changed their tactics in this game, it was obvious that the game between the Sonics and the Rockets had undergone tremendous changes.

After the first quarter of the game, the Sonics were not defeated. When the two teams finished the first quarter, the score was 28 to 24, and the Rockets only led by 4 points.

The Sonics still can't stop the Rockets' offense, but the Sonics' offense is very strong, and the Rockets' offense has indeed declined. The main decline is Scola's offense.

At least the Rockets' 4-point lead in the first quarter allowed Yes to face the double-teaming of Wallace and Roy. The 10 points scored on 3-of-4 shooting were meaningful.

In the last game, Yes also scored 10 points in the first quarter, but it was meaningless because the Rockets had already scored 36 points by that time.

"Judging from the first quarter, Nelson and the Sonics' tactics are effective!"

"Whether the Sonics players can now drag this game into the critical stage of the fourth quarter requires the contribution of the Sonics substitute players. The Sonics' substitutes are one of the strongest in the league this season, while the Rockets' substitutes are relatively weak in the league. Talk about ordinary!”

After the first quarter of the game, Mr. Zhang Lili and Su Qun had great expectations for the SuperSonics' rotation in the second quarter. Although Milicic and Millsap were exhausted in the first quarter, they did not. There is no way to play during the rotation in the second quarter, but the inside combination of Marc Gasol and Nick Collison should also be able to fill the big hole left by James Harden on the court.

only……

As soon as the game started in the second quarter, Teacher Zhang Lili and Su Qun felt that they had made something wrong.

Marc Gasol and Nick Collison are indeed very good, but their inside attack ability is really average, or even non-existent. They are completely unable to punish the Rockets' center Hayes and power forward Carl Landry. Even Gasol and Nick Collison could only compete 50-50 with Landry Hayes when grabbing rebounds.

And Landry's offensive aggressiveness is greater than Gasol and Collison combined!

The SuperSonics' rotation this year is mainly to train James Harden, and the rhythm is very strange. Without the inside advantage, James Harden is really a trap.

If there is a very experienced veteran like Brent Barry on the opposite side who doesn't like James Harden's way of drawing fouls, James Harden's game will be uncomfortable. He will dribble for a long time and observe for a long time. When he got the opportunity to cut in, he couldn't find the opportunity to draw a foul. In the end, he could only force a shot at the buzzer or pass it to Barea next to him.

Every time he receives a pass like this from James Harden, Barea wants to hit him!

Damn it, I played with KD last season. Although KD was cheating at the beginning, he never passed the ball to me, okay?

You fucking think you are Yes!

Even if it was Yes, he wouldn't pass such a blame ball. Didn't you see that there were defensive players standing in front of me?

My official height is 1.83 meters, this sacred height. You don't really think I am 1.83 meters tall, do you? !

Partnering with James Harden this season is really a pitfall. It is said that Rondo is the one who wants to kill James Harden the most in the team, but in fact, he is the one who wants to kill James Harden the most!

That is to say, his strong shooting ability is also good, otherwise he would be even worse this season!

During the rotation period in the second quarter, old Nelson originally hoped that the Seattle Supersonics would easily beat the Rockets' rotation.

He really didn't expect the rotation of the two teams to be so tense.

"It seems that the inside player who partners with Mark must be an inside player with extremely strong inside aggressiveness."

After the rotation time in the second quarter, the score of the two teams became 40 to 34, and the Seattle Supersonics' lag was widened.

This made old Nelson frown a little. He had high hopes for Gasol now. Gasol is not mature enough to be able to stand alone in the interior like Milicic.

Also, when James Harden can't commit a foul and can't break through, it's really a pit, the kind of pit that can kill people. Even a strong man like Barea was almost crying.

You can't hit or scold him. You have to serve him even if you don't want to.

After the rotation time in the second quarter, old Nelson frowned a little, while Adelman on the side was relieved.

Old Nelson's tactical changes in this game scared him. His tactics were broken by old Nelson.

But...

"You don't have players who can match your tactical thinking!"

The tactics were successful, but the game failed. This is the most regrettable thing for a coach.

In this game against the Rockets, the Supersonics were like this.

In the end, the Sonics still failed to force the Rockets to play a decisive game at the last moment. The final score was 116 to 106. The score seemed good. In fact, the Rockets had been leading the Sonics by about 10 points in the second half. The Rockets won quite calmly.

After losing to the Rockets at home on January 8, Yes and the Sonics played the Timberwolves back-to-back away on January 9, another Chinese derby.

129 to 117, the Timberwolves, who were well rested, defeated the Sonics at home.

Lost another Chinese derby. For a gimmick like the Chinese derby, the Sonics didn't care about the ups and downs.

What mattered was that after losing to the Rockets and the Timberwolves, the Sonics' record became 23 wins and 14 losses.

The Sonics' position in the top eight in the West seemed to have been shaken again...