Chapter 757 [The Most Popular, Inspirational Story]
In order to compete for the NBA championship, Yao Ming gave up the 2012 Olympic Games despite domestic pressure.
Yao Ming suffered an ankle injury last season. Although it was not serious, he needed rest. If he plays in the Olympics and then the new NBA season, the outcome is likely to be a stress fracture.
2008 was the peak period of the Chinese men's basketball team, and they failed to achieve a record breakthrough. Now that the overall strength of the men's basketball team is weakening, Yao Ming is naturally unwilling to risk his career to fight for the result of qualifying in a group.
After a full rest, the 32-year-old Yao Ming showed good form at the start of the game, averaging 17.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, helping the Nets achieve an overwhelming record against the Cavaliers and rank first in the Eastern Conference.
Now, the goal of everyone in the Nets is to compete for the championship.
The battle between stars and the showdown between Yang Rui and his disciple Brad Stevens are all highlights of the game. The league started promoting it three days in advance and broadcast it live across the United States.
In a regular season game, when the players come out, the staff turns off the lights to create an atmosphere and boost morale, making it as grand as a playoff game.
This game should indeed be more grand, with many stars.
Clippers starting lineup: Paul, Danny Green, Gay, Griffin, Chandler.
Nets starting lineup: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Favors, Yao Ming.
Chandler wins with a jump ball and the game begins.
Paul dribbled the ball to the three-point line and observed the movements of his teammates. Yang Rui arranged for the outside shooting attack to take Yao Ming out of the basket.
Because of his slow movement and poor pick-and-roll defense, Yao Ming has not been selected for the best defensive team, but if he defends near the penalty area, no team can easily hit the basket. Therefore, the common method to deal with Yao Ming's team is to pick and roll, guard to shoot, or to attract him to switch out.
Paul and Griffin played a pick-and-roll in the middle, and Chandler provided Green with no-ball coverage on the right side. The Nets used a hybrid defense. Yao Ming defended near the penalty area, man-to-man on the outside, and relied on rotation to interfere with shooting when there was space.
Paul brought it 45 degrees to the left, attracting Deron and Yao Ming to pursue and defend, and distributed the ball to the center. Griffin caught the ball at the free throw line and made a jump shot. 2 to 0.
The Nets attack follows the same routine as the Clippers. Ludron holds the ball in the center and Yao Ming plays a pick-and-roll. Favors provides Joe Johnson with an off-ball screen on the side, and Butler pulls away on one side.
The difference is that Yao Ming's shooting range is farther than Griffin. Yao Ming has been practicing three-pointers from the middle for 8 years. His shooting rate at this point is very high, reaching 40.7% last season. Deron is one of the best point guards in the pick-and-roll. He relied on the screen to get rid of Paul, rushed to the left corner to attract Chandler, and passed to the center.
Paul failed to interfere with Yao Ming's catch, and it was completely impossible to interfere with Yao Ming's shooting. The height gap between the two was the largest on the court, reaching 44cm. This is the gap between the Hobbit and Gandalf...
Yao Ming raised his toes and shot, but Paul could only watch without jumping, and the ball hit the net hollowly. 2 to 3.
Nets home fans stood up and applauded, shouting Yao Ming's name. He is the most popular star in New York. Yao Ming, who did not win a championship with the Rockets in his previous life, is not on the same level of popularity as Yao Ming, who won the MVP 4 times. Because of him, many New York fans began to tend to watch Nets games, especially Chinese fans, who regarded Yao Ming as the spiritual symbol of the city.
New York is the city with the best economic development in the United States. It is for this reason that it has attracted a large number of Chinese. It is the city with the largest number of Chinese. New York's Chinatown and Flushing are both very famous.
Yao Ming is very grateful to Yang Rui for his original suggestion. New York is more suitable for his development than Los Angeles. His commercial value has increased, and the Nets have also risen rapidly. It is a win-win situation.
When the Clippers attacked, Paul and Griffin played pick-and-rolls to open up space. After Deron chased after him, he quickly moved the ball to the center. Griffin caught the ball and made a jump shot, and then made another mid-range shot from the high post. 4 to 3.
Yang Rui trained Griffin in the same way as Yao Ming, asking them to do the same thing. Griffin has made obvious progress. Although he still rarely shoots three-pointers this season and his three-point shooting rate is average, his mid-range shooting has been very stable. .
From a data perspective,
Griffin's 39.4% mid-range shooting percentage at the beginning of the game may not seem very good, but compared with some other inside players who are considered to be very good at shooting, you will find that he is not bad at all.
Aldridge, the power forward who is considered the best at mid-range shooting, shot 41.8% from mid-range shooting this season; Kevin Love, a representative of the shooting power forward with a range as far as the three-point line, shot 41.5% from mid-range shooting. ; Marc Gasol, who is considered a representative of European insiders and has excellent shooting ability, only shot 38.8% from mid-range.
It is true that Griffin's mid-range damage is not as good as some pure shooters, but he is already above the average level among interior players, which makes his tactical role more obvious.
The Nets attacked, and after a pick-and-roll, Deron suddenly stopped and made a jump shot from the right, returning the favor. 4 to 5.
Although Paul is very active in chasing and defending, it is very difficult for him to block Deron from the side with his height of 183cm. The inside must block Deron in front of him. He is accurate in the mid-range shot.
Paul was able to join the defensive team because he had excellent control over the point guard and had good defensive awareness. However, once he was out of position, Paul suffered a lot. Does height matter? Fans will know if they go to the wild court and try to defend someone who is 15cm taller than themselves. ?
Six minutes later, the two sides were tied at 10-18. The Nets gradually opened up the score and the Clippers' offense was restricted.
Chandler can only score when he's under the basket, and he can let go when he's pulled out. The Nets' two inside men can shoot, which opens up the space to a greater extent.
Deron has always been Paul's nemesis on the outside. It was good not to pressure Paul today. The two of them mainly passed the ball in the beginning, scoring 2 points and 3 assists respectively.
Joe Johnson is known as "Isolation Joe". He has the advantage in strength when one-on-one with Danny Green. When replaced by Guy, he can run without the ball and catch the ball. He hit a three-pointer, a mid-range shot, broke through and drew a foul and made two free throws, scoring 7 points.
At the small forward position, Gay failed to perform in a one-on-one and was blocked by Butler. He did not score a point. Butler received a pass from Yao Ming through an air cut and dunked with one hand for two points.
After Butler entered the league, he was trained as a blue-collar perimeter defender. This season, he averaged 8.6 points, 4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1 steal per game. His offensive performance was average, but he greatly enhanced the Nets' wing defense strength.
He has excellent immediate combat ability, even if his defensive awareness needs to be improved. He is very tough and has unlimited physical strength. He can always get around the opponent and is also very active in rushing for rebounds.
Butler's growth experience is an inspirational story. He was kicked out of the house by his mother when he was 13 years old. His mother even said this when driving him away: "I don't like your appearance, please leave."
After that, he had to stay at a friend's house. It can be said that he had a thousand reasons to choose to give up on himself, but he chose to work hard. When he entered the NBA, he also said this: "Thank you for the past experience, it made me who I am today." .”
Seeing Butler's current success, his mother who thought he was ugly would probably faint in the bathroom crying. After joining the NBA, Butler is fully capable of living a wealthy life.
In the second half, Yang Rui made substitutions. Paul, Gay, and Chandler rested. Curry, Parsons, and Battier came on, and started small ball tactics in advance. Griffin assumed the center position and guarded Yao Ming.
CCTV5 Zhang Liyi said: "It seems that the Clippers are going to speed up. This is a test for Yao Ming, but playing small ball tactics is also an opportunity for Yao Ming. He will definitely have an advantage in one-on-one with Griffin."
Yu Jia said: "Green didn't do a good job guarding Joe Johnson. Yang Rui asked Gay to guard him for a few rounds. Now he will probably let Battier guard him. Green is left on the court for offense. He has now completely pushed Korver to the bench. superior."
Zhang Liji said: "In terms of attack, the game is good to watch."