The world of basketball

Chapter 176 The Texas Three Musketeers

The Rockets still use the lineup of last season, with a light bulb combination in the backcourt, Tucker and Zhou Zhouqi on the front line, and Capela at the fifth position on the inside.

The Rockets' lineup is getting better now. Among them, Harden and Capela are the first to cooperate. Then Gordon came, Nene came, Tucker came, Gerald Green came, Paul came, Their lineup has been working together for a very long time.

Then, Zhou Qi's explosion last season ushered in, and now the Rockets have strengthened their entire lineup.

In addition to starting, Gordon, Nene, and Gerald Green have already formed eight people in their rotation. Of course, Nene will not have too much playing time, after all, he is already old Nene.

This season they got Rivers Jr. through a trade, plus Ennis and House, who have already played well, their lineup is already very complete.

This season, Capela seems to have realized the threat with the arrival of the cycle, and he is better at both ends of the offense and defense. He has provided the Rockets with very high-quality screens and frames, and is the last barrier for the Rockets' defensive end.

But Zhou Qi and Capela are players with two completely different styles of play. Zhou Qi is more inclined to be on the outside, and the defensive end is also based on assisting defense and switching defenses, while Capela is more inclined to roll and roll after the pick-and-roll. For air cuts, the main style of play is the inside style of play, and the defensive end is also more confrontational. Of course, his awareness of assisting defense is also very strong.

Whether it is the offensive end or the defensive end, the two are completely complementary to each other. Moreover, Zhou Qi can open up the space and will not block Harden's offensive route and Capela's downward route at all.

You must know that Zhou Qi is the champion of the three-point contest in this year's All-Star Game. His bullhorn tactics with Capela and Harden provide a higher possibility for the Rockets to pick and roll. Although they say so, in the end It must be Zhou Qi's outside cut and Capela going down, but this delay can give Harden and Paul such offensive masters ample space and time to tear up the defense.

Their offensive system is very mature. In addition to the starting lineup, they also have the best sixth man in the past, Gordon, the traded Rivers Jr., and Nene, who played well last season. Nice and House, these are very strong bench bandits.

Their defensive end is also among the top teams in the league in defensive efficiency.In addition to the perimeter defense that once defended Paul for a while, there is also Tucker, who defends almighty, and Capela, the inside barrier.

They had just killed the No. [-] Warriors in the West, and their morale was high. Paul's comeback completely liberated Harden, allowing Harden to do as he wanted.

It's an uphill battle.

The arena in San Antonio was full of voices.Last year, due to Aldridge's unexpected injury, the Spurs failed in the Western Conference semifinals, and it was the Rockets who defeated them.

Obviously there is no change in the personnel of this Rockets team, but they seem to be stronger than last year.

But San Antonio fans have always supported their home team, no matter when, and this year, after Aldridge returned from injury, the first round of the series was hot.Butler's seamless cut-in also brought the Spurs to a higher level. The growth of young players Lonnie Walker, Kuzma and Mu Xiaobei is also gratifying. They have no reason not to believe that they can successfully avenge this year and advance to the next level. The Western Conference Finals, and then they will kill one of the Lakers or the Nuggets to advance to the Finals, and finally they will kill the Eastern team and win the O'Brien Cup.

"Good morning, netizens! Welcome to the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Spurs vs. Rockets game broadcast by Penguin Sports. The studio is very happy to invite Guoguo and Mr. Su Qun to watch the game with you .” Wang Meng is still familiar with the opening introduction.

"Teacher Su Qun, this game is not only a derby between two domestic players, Mu Xiaobei and Zhou Qi, the two teams are both Texas teams and old enemies. There was once a rumor in the world that the three teams from Texas The team will always give people an illusion: the Mavericks are weak, the Rockets are strong, and the Spurs are old. Of course, the core players in the three teams have been updated, and this rumor is not mentioned by many people. What kind of characteristics do you think both sides should play in such a game to help the team win?" Wang Meng asked.

"These two teams are a little bit different from last year. Needless to say, the Spurs have a lot of changes and upgrades in their roster, and their young players have evolved. The Rockets seem to have nothing to say. Changes, but they have been playing together for several years, and they are too familiar with each other. And the changes in this lineup have also made the Rockets stronger, the most important thing is their cornerstone player Harden The change in the style of play has given the Rockets more firepower on the offensive end," Su Qun said.

"If we say that both sides should play at their own level, well, both sides have good offensive skills. Over the years, D'Antoni and Popovich, two coaches with very different coaching styles, seem to be a bit similar." Su Qun Said: "Everyone knows D'Antoni's coaching method before, which is to play fast, the so-called seven-second offense, or even less. The Suns' small ball whirlwind, three-point whirlwind, is the originator of the Warriors' small ball. He is crazy obsessed with Fast breaks and [-]-pointers. I really don’t like the positional game, especially the long-lasting positional game.”

"Popovich is completely old school. He has loudly expressed his resentment for three-pointers in front of fans and the media countless times. However, in the past two seasons, the Spurs' three-pointers have become more and more serious. The more. He likes to play on the ground, and he doesn't like to let his disciples play fast breaks and counterattacks, but this season, the Spurs have more and more fast breaks and counterattacks." Su Qun said: "Young fans and friends like to play A stalk is called Zhenxiang. Now Popovich’s performance and his original attitude can also be described by this stalk.”

Popovich is undoubtedly a great coach in the league and even in history. D'Antoni is also a great coach in the league and even in history. Popovich is still very stubborn and doesn't like three-pointers and counterattacks, but he I am also trying to change myself to adapt to the trend of the league.D’Antoni felt that he noticed some shortcomings in his system and style of play in the previous experience of leading the team. Fortunately, God let him meet Harden, the player who is most suitable for his style of play. He and Harden have achieved each other. with.

This time, Popovich, the league's favorite slow player, and D'Antoni, the league's favorite fast player, met again on the playoffs stage.

(End of this chapter)