Chapter 899 898. Eat, Sleep and Play as a High School Center (Ask for Monthly Votes)
Liu Mang complained to the referee, but the referee rolled his eyes at him and ignored him completely.
First of all, the referee really didn't see Yao Ming's little move. Just now, it seemed that Liu Mang rushed over and bumped into Yao Ming who wanted to stop him. When Yao Ming blocked Liu Mang, before Liu Mang wanted to change direction and accelerate, Yao Ming suddenly hit his hips. That little move was too hidden. Even if the referee saw it, it would be reasonable to say that it was a move during running.
The key is that the referee really didn't see it.
Moreover, Yao Ming is also a star in the West. Although there is still a big gap between his strength and the former No. 1 center in the West, in terms of the increasingly weak center position, Yao Ming is now the second center in the league. If it were someone else, Liu Mang might find an opportunity to blow the whistle next time he complained.
But if it was Yao Ming, the referee would not give Liu Mang face and blow the whistle at will. Yao Ming is also a player praised by the league. He averages 7.5 free throws per game in 32 minutes of playing time. This season, there are only five players registered as centers who average 5 free throws per game or more, including O'Neal, Yao Ming, Howard, Ben Wallace, and Eddy Curry.
Among them, O'Neal, Howard, and Ben Wallace are the kind of players who will be the target of tactical fouls. O'Neal averages 10 free throws per game, and Howard and Ben Wallace just average 5 per game.
Yao Ming and Eddy Curry are the real free throws that are purely based on their skills, because both of them have a high free throw hit rate, Yao Ming's free throw hit rate is 85%, and Eddy Curry's is 78%. Basically, they will not be the target of tactical fouls, and Eddy Curry only averages 5.3 free throws per game.
Yao Ming's free throw rate and number of free throws are also very impressive in the history of the center position. Olajuwon's career-high free throw average was just 8.
Seeing Yao Ming's confused expression when he was pointed at, Liu Mang didn't expect that this guy actually learned to act! And he acted really well!
During the four days of rest before, Liu Mang watched a lot of Rockets' game videos this season. The reason why he felt that Yao Ming began to show signs of iron-bloodedness was not because Yao Ming now clenched his fists and roared more often after dunking, but because Yao Ming's small movements became more!
Yao Ming has a square face that looks honest and simple, so the referee rarely noticed his small movements. Even if he noticed it, he would rarely blow the whistle because those small movements were not hurtful, and Yao Ming looked honest, which was similar to Garnett's face that looked like "I just have a lot of small movements".
Liu Mang didn't expect that Yao Ming had become "bad" as he learned. If it was a national team game, Liu Mang would be happy, but now he is an opponent...
Liu Mang saw that the referee ignored him, so he could only run to the front court and fell into a positional battle.
After Liu Mang crossed the center line, McGrady passed the ball to Liu Mang first. Liu Mang dribbled to the top arc, and David Wesley came up to defend.
Liu Mang looked at David Wesley, who looked like Mickey Mouse, and his defensive mobility was very good. He was short and fast. Liu Mang pretended to force a breakthrough, and David Wesley immediately came up and made physical contact. When Liu Mang was about to change direction, David Wesley immediately took half a step away. He didn't need to be too far away to keep up with Liu Mang's pace.
Really good defense!
Liu Mang felt that the Rockets had all kinds of bargain-hunting trades, and this 34-year-old veteran was a bargain. This veteran who was abandoned by the Hornets came to the Rockets and was very suitable for him. He was much better than Sura.
Fearing the deterrent power of Yao Ming under the basket, Liu Mang did not have a good chance to shoot from mid-range and long distances. He did not want to force a mid-range and long-range shot at the beginning, and was pressed to the basket. Yao Ming was under the basket. Liu Mang waved to McGrady to come over, handed the ball to McGrady, and then rushed into the inside from the middle with David Wesley empty-handed, trying to disrupt the Rockets' defense.
Kwame Brown came out to help Liu Mang block David Wesley, and Liu Mang cut in from the middle, but Yao Ming stepped on the semi-circular arc of the reasonable collision zone, and the defensive area was almost at the free throw line. The terrifying height of 2.26 meters was too threatening to the defense under the basket. Liu Mang took advantage of Kwame Brown's off-ball pick-and-roll and accelerated suddenly, running back from the left side of the three-second zone, and came to the 45-degree angle on the left. McGrady's pass was just passed to Liu Mang.
The middle road cooperation learned from Stockton!
But Richard Jefferson had already blocked Liu Mang when he received the ball at the 45-degree angle on the left. David Wesley, who was blocked by Kwame Brown, did not chase Liu Mang around the pick-and-roll at all, but immediately switched defense with Richard Jefferson to defend McGrady!
With David Wesley as the point guard, the Rockets' defensive rotation has become much more powerful!
Time is running out, and there is no chance for Liu Mang to create a mobile phone opportunity. Liu Mang immediately threw the ball to McGrady, who has the advantage of height, to attack.
McGrady received the ball and took a three-pointer...
It didn't go in. Yao Ming turned around and used his broad back to block Kwame Brown who might rush in to grab the offensive rebound. He blocked Rasheed Wallace who rushed in with one arm, and Juwan Howard ran in and easily received the defensive rebound.
Liu Mang quickly called on his teammates to return to defense. The Rockets' defense surprised Liu Mang! It is worthy of being a top defensive team that only allows opponents to score 91 points per game!
Van Gundy and Thibodeau, the coaching staff of this team are speed killers, which means they have fewer players who can score. Otherwise, with the defensive system of Van Gundy and Thibodeau, if the Rockets had a guard who was better at passing the ball, they would definitely take off!
Liu Mang suddenly felt a little sympathy for the young Van Gundy who had clung to Alonso Mourning. He only allowed the opponent to score 91 points per game, while his own team could only score 93 points, which was worse than the Spurs' offense...
Sure enough, the Rockets' current offensive style has stabilized. Yao Ming played solo at the beginning, and David Wesley was much more self-aware than Sura. He waited for Yao Ming to get a position after passing half court.
Yao Ming was pushed roughly by Kwame Brown, and his buttocks sank, and his 135 kg was one kilogram heavier than the fat Eddy Curry, the second-largest weight in the league after O'Neal, and he pressed Kwame Brown tightly behind him.
David Wesley passed the ball to Yao Ming, and Kwame Brown tried to use the same strategy of defending O'Neal to consume Yao Ming. At the moment when Yao Ming leaned forward and prepared to exert force backward, Kwame Brown pressed forward to steal the ball with his arm span.
However, Yao Ming spent as much time studying the Hawks as the Hawks players spent studying him! Yao Ming had long known how Mourning and Kwame Brown, two inside players, would deal with O'Neal, who was also a giant center. The moment Kwame Brown pressed forward, Yao Ming turned in a spiral, with his right foot as the axis, picked up the ball with his left hand, turned half a turn to the right, stepped out with his left foot, leaned toward the basket, and threw the ball directly into the basket.
Kwame Brown was still thinking about letting the opponent make a cut-in action and then step back to the basket to face Yao Ming's defense, but who knew that Yao Ming got a little gap at that position and directly threw the ball with one hand!
Yao Ming had an excellent touch, and the ball rolled around the basket and fell into the basket.
A wonderful low-post singles, with such height, such weight, and such footwork and touch, Kenny Smith of T.N.T Sports, who broadcast the game live, shouted "the best center" in the face of fat Barkley's unhappy expression.
Liu Mang watched Yao Ming teasing Kwame Brown, and then looked at Rasheed Wallace who was pulled away by Howard. Should he let Rasheed Wallace double-team him, or let Kwame Brown continue to be abused?
Yao Ming is too easy to play against centers like Kwame Brown and Howard. It would be a waste of physical fitness for Kwame Brown to gain weight to the size of the Lakers in the original time and space before he turns 23. Kwame Brown in this time and space has developed a very good way of playing using physical fitness.
Liu Mang received the serve, and the Rockets had already retreated. Yao Ming worked hard to return to defense after scoring. The overall retreat speed of the Rockets is still good. A team that can suppress the speed of the Suns is really not to be underestimated.
Let's start with the offensive end and break the Rockets' defense first.
After Liu Mang pushed through half court, he passed the ball to McGrady, and then directly helped McGrady block Richard Jefferson at the top arc.
McGrady used Liu Mang to block Richard Jefferson and cut into the inside. McGrady's first three steps were very fast, and David Wesley couldn't keep up with him and could only try his best to stick to McGrady.
At the same time, Liu Mang blocked Richard Jefferson and bypassed Richard Jefferson to cut to the basket from the left side of the top arc.
After McGrady rushed into the free throw line, he took three steps and crossed from the right side of the three-second zone to the left side of the three-second zone, trying to bypass Yao Ming and shoot. Richard Jefferson immediately let go of Liu Mang to chase McGrady, and David Wesley also switched back to block Liu Mang tacitly.
At this time, Kwame Brown came up to block David Wesley, and Liu Mang stopped suddenly while cutting in and ran back to the top arc. After McGrady took three steps and jumped, he had no chance and threw the ball to the top arc in the air.
Liu Mang received the ball, and the Rockets came to help defend quickly. Sura rushed over to help defend Liu Mang. Liu Mang received the ball and immediately threw it to Prince. Prince moved to the right 45-degree angle outside the three-point line to receive the ball and adjusted it, and then took an open three-point shot!
After a series of cooperation, Prince finally got a shooting opportunity, and he seized it and made a three-point shot.
The Rockets' current defense is much stronger than the defense of David Wesley, Sura, McGrady, Second Uncle Huo, and Yao Ming in Liu Mang's impression. The main reason is that Richard Jefferson does not need to play as hard as McGrady on the offensive end. His scoring methods are empty cuts and three-pointers. He is mainly responsible for defense, and then he can average 23 points and 7 rebounds per game. The Rockets' defense is much better than McGrady's original time and space with an eye defense!
The three-man team on the outside rotated at a high speed, and Yao Ming was under the basket. Although Second Uncle Huo's strength was not very good, his degree of hard work in playing was commendable. He was criticized only for not being worthy of the big contract he had received for many years, and his attitude was very positive.
The Hawks have figured it out. The Rockets have played for half a season and have reached their mid-season "peak" performance that they appear in almost every season. They don't need to deliberately suppress the rhythm. They can suppress the rhythm on the court very slowly by playing normally.
Liu Mang thought of the Rockets' madness in the month before and after the All-Star Weekend every year. Even the 22-game winning streak was achieved from the end of January to mid-March when other teams were complaining. This team is really unique.
It was the Rockets' turn to attack again. Yao Ming continued to go to the low post to ask for the ball, and blocked Kwame Brown for the ball.
The method of defending O'Neal didn't work. Kwame Brown had a good sense of single defense, and immediately began to try to defend Yao Ming with another defensive method.
Kwame Brown tried to use his explosive power to directly impact Yao Ming. Yao Ming bumped back and felt Kwame Brown's impact. He discovered Kwame Brown's intention, so he slapped the ball to the ground and bumped back. Before Kwame Brown came up, he turned around suddenly, picked up the ball that bounced up quickly with his right hand, wiped Kwame Brown, dribbled forward, and dunked with both hands like a gorilla!
The five-centimeter bounce from the ground, Yao Ming dropped his hands on the basket and hung his feet in the air when he dunked the ball into the basket, making a posture of jumping 20 centimeters.
After landing, Yao Ming clenched his fists and ran back with a low roar. Without Boozer, Yao Ming was so pissy when playing against the Hawks!
Kwame Brown was about to cry!
Liu Mang looked at Yao Ming, who ran back with all his strength after roaring, and looked at Kwame Brown. He didn't expect that Yao Ming, who ate, slept and played Warcraft before Howard became powerful, would use the skills of playing Warcraft on Kwame Brown.
It's really like hammering! Liu Mang remembers that Yao Ming averaged nearly 24+12 against Howard, and he defended Howard's average of 12+9, which was far below his career average. In the 08-09 season when Howard was at his peak, Yao Ming, who didn't have McGrady, bullied him wantonly. The Magic's 08-09 season was similar to the Suns this season. They relied on the three-point team to beat 28 teams in the league at least once, but they were only swept by the Rockets in the regular season.
Now playing against Kwame Brown, who has a similar style, Yao Ming also beat Kwame Brown!
It's really tough, this kind of team with conflicting styles...
The Texas Three...
Liu Mang continued to advance with the ball, and cooperated with McGrady on the outside to pick and roll against David Wesley and Richard Jefferson's excellent single defense.
Originally, the effect of two people's single defense was not so good. If the opponent was Liu Mang and McGrady, they could not block the breakthrough if they blocked the outside line. But with Yao Ming at the basket, they only needed to block the mid-range and long-range shots. When Liu Mang and McGrady broke through, they could stick to Liu Mang and McGrady to get into the distance that Yao Ming could interfere with. When Liu Mang and McGrady used their footsteps, they would switch defense, preferring to let the Hawks get a chance to pass the ball to their teammates on the outside line rather than let the two score.
The Rockets' defensive execution is really amazing, and the defensive strategy is very targeted. They would rather let Prince and Rasheed Wallace of the Hawks shoot three-pointers than let Liu Mang and McGrady have a good chance to shoot.
The cooperation between Liu Mang and McGrady created a lot of mid-range and long-range shooting opportunities for Rasheed Wallace and Prince. Fortunately, the two had rested for a few days and are now in good physical condition and feel good. The Hawks started to withstand Yao Ming's strong inside attack.
On the Rockets side, after Yao Ming played a few times, he began to use his pick-and-roll ability and mid-range shots to cooperate with David Wesley to create scoring opportunities for Richard Jefferson. After Yao Ming finished playing, it was David Wesley and Richard Jefferson's turn to score. David Wesley's pick-and-roll three-pointer and Richard Jefferson's cut and reverse three-pointer were all very powerful. They were all first-class three-point shooters. After the Rockets relied on Yao Ming to start the game and threatened, they played very hard on the offensive end.
The key is that every time the Rockets scored, a group of local college students in Houston came to boo their own team with a "mission" and a "sense of ritual", and the Rockets players played harder.
Because Yao Ming was on the court, the Hawks did not dare to easily reduce the height of the lineup, so the starters of both teams played the entire first quarter.
Liu Mang only had 3 successful shots in the first quarter. It was really not easy to shoot blindly in such a tense situation. He made 2 of 3 shots and 2 of 2 free throws. Liu Mang only scored 6 points in the first quarter, but he had 3 assists! This was very rare when McGrady was there. When McGrady was there, Liu Mang sometimes did not have 3 assists in a game.
When McGrady was not there, Liu Mang only had a little more assists in the first quarter. After Jason Terry, Iguodala and Calderon came on the court, Liu Mang mainly shot and passed the ball to the three of them. Jason Terry was more willing to pass the ball than Liu Mang.
McGrady scored 3 points and 3 assists. Together with Liu Mang, he scored 9 points and 6 assists in the first quarter, helping the Hawks get 24 points. Rasheed Wallace and Prince performed well today. They scored a total of 4 three-pointers in the first quarter, two each, and made two rare counterattacks. Prince made a dunk in the air and made a free throw. Prince became the player with the most points in the first quarter, scoring 9 points.
Kwame Brown had 0 points and 3 rebounds. He had no way to attack Yao Ming under the basket. It was difficult to defend Yao Ming's mid-range shots on defense, and he was abused when defending singles under the basket.
Kwame Brown felt the desolation of Howard in the future in advance...
However, the Hawks only scored 24 points, and the Rockets did not really have any advantage. The two teams were evenly matched. The Rockets only defended the Hawks' fast break and forced the Hawks to pass the ball to Prince and Rasheed Wallace in positional warfare. Their own score, except for Yao Ming who scored 8 points with 4 of 6 in the first quarter, the hit rate of others was as bad as usual.
The Hawks' defense was not vegetarian either. Even though the Rockets played very hard, the Rockets only scored 24 points in the first quarter, which was on par with the Hawks.
Yao Ming scored 8 points, Richard Jefferson also scored 8 points, and made two three-pointers and a layup in an empty cut, causing Liu Mang to foul and made two free throws.
The two core players of the Rockets scored 16 points in total, but the Rockets only scored 24 points in the whole quarter.
During the intermission, Liu Mang returned to the bench. It was really difficult to deal with. The Texas Big Three was really scary. The three teams had their own characteristics and they were all so strong.
Fortunately, the league did not arrange a trip to the Texas Three this season, otherwise they would have been very tired!
Fortunately, Yao Ming managed to eat, sleep and play... During this time when he played as the top center in high school, Liu Mang and Jason Terry, who had taken off his training suit, looked at each other, and their time was up!