NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 219 The new season begins, and the five major deaths show their power

On October 2012, 10, the NBA preseason officially began.

The Rockets' preseason debut, the new starting lineup first appeared in the public eye.

When Wang Chao, Butler, Leonard, Garnett and Dayao appeared in the starting lineup, which can be called the top five dead, the Rockets' opponents in the first preseason opener, the Oklahoma City Thunder, were stupid.

What the hell is this?Dayao is 2 meters tall, Garnett is registered at 26 meters tall, and his real height is around 2 meters. meters, and the average height reaches an exaggerated 11 meters, it will not be possible for the Thunder to fix it directly.

Westbrook looked at Wang Chao who was facing him, and his heart was broken.

What the hell is this?How to fight?
With a height of only 1 meters, he can't guard Wang Chao at all, and the opponent can even ignore him and raise his hand to shoot from beyond the three-point line.

And even if you switch defenses with your teammates, the situation is not much better. Whether facing Leonard or Butler, the height gap still exists.

Leaving aside the offense of the Rockets' top five lineup of death, the defensive end is really terrible.

When he debuted for the first time, the terrifying sense of defensive oppression came to his face.

The Thunder were able to score steadily except for Durant for a while, and all other players played abnormally.

In less than 5 minutes of the game, the difference between the two teams was widened.

However, this was only a preseason game, and both sides had reservations, and soon replaced the main players and let the substitute rotation players appear.

Then the Rockets continued to suppress the Thunder under the leadership of the substitute players.

The main force of the Thunder's bench is naturally Harden, but obviously the problem of contract renewal has not been resolved for a long time, and Harden has no thoughts.

On the Rockets side, the bench lineup is composed of Thomas Jr., Korver, Middleton, Chandler Parsons and Whiteside.

If this lineup is pushed back a few years, it may have the ability to hit the playoffs.

In the first quarter alone, the score between the two teams was 34:16, with the Rockets leading by 18 points. In the next few quarters, the Rockets' suppression did not decrease at all, and the point difference continued to expand.

At the end of the game, the score of the two teams was 127:90, and the Rockets beat the Thunder by 37 points.

Although this is only a preseason game, no one takes it seriously, and even when they are behind, the Thunder did not increase the playing time of their main players to catch up with the point difference.

But as opponents in the Western Conference finals last season, the opponent also injured Dayao and indirectly caused the Rockets to lose in the finals. The two sides can be regarded as mortal enemies.

Being able to massacre the opponent by a large score is a good breath of anger for the Rockets, and McHale was a little relieved by the first show of the top five.

Wang Chao seems to be fully competent as the starting point guard, not only the management team seems to be very suitable, but even the new veteran of the team, Jason Kidd, who is regarded as the absolute authority at the position of point guard, has shown great strength to Wang Chao. His passing vision, overall situation and passing ability are full of praise.

"It's hard to imagine that Wang, a top scorer, has such an outstanding ability to pass assists. Even if his scoring ability is not as strong as it is now, he can become a top passer just by his ability to support the pass. He really It's a genius!"

The eight preseason games of the Rockets ended with a record of complete victories. Although no one will take the preseason record seriously, it can also be seen from the side that the Rockets' spirit and good chemical reaction in the new season .

In stark contrast to this is the highly anticipated Lakers super F4 combination at the beginning of the season.

As in the original history, the Lakers had 0 wins and 8 losses in the preseason and failed to win even a game.

Such a result can't help but surprise people, although many Lakers fans are still saying something stubbornly, "This is just a preseason game. The Lakers didn't play seriously at all. It will be different in the regular season."

"The new lineup of the Lakers is not running in enough. The preseason is just an exploratory stage. As Howard and Nash gradually adapt to the Lakers lineup and have a tacit understanding, the team will soon enter the state."

But there are already many professional media commentators who are not optimistic about the Lakers' prospects of winning the championship.

"The super lineup formed by the Lakers once shocked everyone, but after calming down and thinking about it, the Lakers are facing many problems. After all, Kobe is 34 years old, Howard is troubled by injuries, and 38-year-old Nash, The 32-year-old Gasol, 33-year-old Artest, whose name was changed to Metta World Peace not long ago, and the average age of the starting lineup is 32.8 years old, are the Lakers really competitive enough compared with the young Heat and Rockets?"

Such doubts were quickly confirmed.

On October 10, the NBA regular season officially started.

The highly anticipated Lakers lost the game in the regular season opener, 91:99 to the Dallas Mavericks.

Followed by another 106:116 away loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

On November 11, the Lakers, who returned to their home court in Los Angeles, lost 2:95 to the Los Angeles Clippers, their direct rivals in the same city, and suffered a three-game losing streak at the beginning of the regular season.

Now the Lakers fans are dumbfounded.

What's happening here?
The Lakers seemed to have not recovered from the losing streak in the preseason. It was not until the fourth game on November 11 that they defeated the Detroit Pistons at home 4:108 to end the losing streak.

This victory did not make Lakers fans relax in the slightest.

The Pistons are no longer the Pistons a few years ago. Last season, the Pistons had a regular season record of only 25 wins and 41 losses, which was the lowest in the league. In the past three seasons, they have not achieved a record of more than 30 wins in a season.

Beating a team like this isn't something the Lakers should be happy about at all.

Sure enough, the Lakers lost to the Utah Jazz in an away game.

In the 5 games of the regular season, the Lakers only had 1 win and 4 losses. Their performance can no longer be described as simply bad.

Correspondingly, there are the other two powerhouses in the triwizard competition, the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets.

The Heat achieved a record of 4 wins and 1 loss at the beginning, and the Rockets won all 5 games, starting the regular season with a wave of five consecutive victories.

As in the preseason, the main lineup of the Rockets in the regular season is the death five lineup with Wang Chao as the point guard.

During the five-game winning streak, the Rockets’ opponents were the Pistons, Hawks, Trail Blazers, Nuggets and Grizzlies. The strengths of these teams were uneven, but without exception, they were at a loss when facing the Rockets’ starting lineup. Power.

On November 11th, the Rockets defeated the Detroit Pistons at home 10:96, and the winning streak reached 82 games. Two days later, on November 6th, the Rockets will usher in a real rival at home. The biggest favorite to win the championship is the Miami Heat team challenge.

The Heat also showed strong dominance at the beginning of the season, with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss. The only game they lost was an away loss to the New York Knicks. More points.

The Heat have been in very good shape since the start of the regular season. With the Lakers losing streak and the odds of winning the championship plummeting all the way, they have already kept pace with the Rockets and become the two teams with the best chance to win the championship.

And now, the two favorites also meet for the first time in the regular season!
On November 11th, the Rockets' home court was packed, and a large number of spectators came to the scene to witness this pinnacle battle, which was also a game of grievances between the two sides after the finals in June.

The Rockets' starting lineup is the "big five" who have been verified and run-in in six games, Wang Chao, Butler, Leonard, Garnett and Dayao.

The Heat's starting lineup is a combination of Mario Chalmers, Wade, James, Battier and Bosh.

This is a standard small-ball lineup system, allowing Bosh, who is a power forward, to serve as a center to ensure mobility. At the same time, Bosh, who has mid-to-long-range shooting ability, can also help James and Way to stretch space.

The lineups of the two teams are very similar to the two extremes, and at the beginning of the game, the two lineups will compete with each other.

Dare to use a small ball lineup?The Rockets are not used to the Heat. They frequently passed the ball to Yao to attack the basket at the beginning of the game. The thin Bosh couldn't withstand Yao's attack at all.

On the other hand, when the Heat were attacking, the Rockets chose to shrink the line of defense, and at the same time slow down the offensive rhythm as much as possible, preventing the Heat from taking advantage of their mobility.

Although the Heat belong to the small ball lineup at this stage, they are fundamentally different from the small ball tactics of the Warriors in the future. The biggest gap is the ability to shoot outside the three-point line.

The small ball tactic is a tactical policy that sacrifices the height and strength of the inside line in exchange for the advantage of mobility. To maximize the advantage of mobility, firepower outside the three-point line is essential.

This is why there have been so many small ball teams in the league over the years, such as the running and bombing Suns in Nash's peak period, the Warriors in the old Nelson era, and the Heat in the two consecutive championships can barely be counted, but they can really reach the Warriors. There are very few such dominators.

It's not that the players on the outside of the Heat can't shoot three-pointers, but James and Wade, the two offensive cores with the ball, are not good at three-pointers.

James is a little better, at least he has a range from outside the three-point line, especially in the 12-13 season, during the regular season, his three-point shooting percentage can reach 40.6%, which is the highest value in his entire career.

Wade is finished. He has never been a trustworthy shooter outside the three-point line. Not surprisingly, his three-point shooting percentage this season will remain at around 25%-28% as always.

Chalmers and Battier's three-point shooting ability is not bad, but neither of them is a ball-holding point. As a point guard, Chalmers basically just dribbles across the half court and then obediently The ball is given to either James or Wade. It may have been 55 before, but since last season, the passing ratio has gradually become 64 or even 73. James has gradually mastered most of the ball for the Heat. .

Even Chalmers is like this, let alone Battier. He just hits the bottom corner of the three-point line, hangs up and waits for the ball to be shot.

So when the Rockets shrank their defense and strengthened their defense, the Heat's offense became extremely difficult.

James was marked by Leonard, and he was shocked to find that Leonard's defense, which had no sense of existence last season, was more difficult than expected.

With James' personal ability, of course he will not be entangled by Leonard, but James, who is only entangled by Leonard's unique death entanglement, is in a hurry. The advantage of crushing the opponent forcibly broke into the basket to cause damage.

The question is here, ask, who is the insider of the Rockets?

Answer: Dayao and Garnett.

One is 2 meters tall and is known as the Great Wall of Mobile. Although his defensive ability is not that outstanding because of his slow footsteps, if he is only at the basket, I am afraid that no one in today's league is better than Yao's ability to protect the frame!
The other is the winner of the Best Defensive Player Award. He is well-known in the league for being able to defend from position one to position five. Kevin Garnett himself is a player who is good at defense. Outside players are flexible and mobile and inside The perfect combination of player height.

No matter which direction James chooses to break through with the ball, he will face at least one of the two insiders. Even if he is as strong as James, under the joint attack of Leonard and Yao/Garnett, the offensive efficiency will be greatly reduced.

If James is like this, Wade needless to say.

Butler's defense is still slightly inferior to Leonard's at this time, but the gap is only reflected in the static talent of the wingspan. Whether it is defensive awareness, judgment and agility, Butler is not inferior to Leonard or even Even better, after all, he has put in countless sweats in order to catch up with Leonard.

In the 12-13 season, Wade was affected by a knee injury, and his explosive power further declined.

As a player whose main offensive method is to break through with the ball, there is no need to say much about the impact of losing speed and explosive power.

From a super scorer who can easily average 30+ points per game to the current regular season average of barely more than 20+ points per game, it only takes two or three seasons.

Butler has an overall advantage in terms of height, weight, strength and even speed. Wade is quite difficult to fight against, and the situation James faces is the same for Wade. Even because of his lack of outside shooting ability, Wade only needs to To attack with the ball, you must face the help defense of Dayao or Garnett.

Ever since, the Heat encountered the same problems as the previous teams.

The defensive end has nothing to do with Dayao inside, and the offensive end is also suppressed by the Rockets' defensive system.

In the first quarter, the Heat scored only 19 points, while the Rockets scored 27 points. By the end of the second quarter, at halftime, the score of the two teams had reached 61:45, with a difference of 16 points. !
The Rockets' home court resounded with cheers and cheers from the fans.

The team was able to suppress the Heat so easily, which made everyone unexpected, but this is definitely a good thing. If the situation is still the same when the two teams meet in the finals, then the Rockets' championship is already a certainty Yet?

It's just that it's not over yet.

While the starting lineup successfully completed the suppression, the Rockets' bench lineup also appeared to give the Heat a fatal blow.

The Rockets replaced the bench lineup with great fanfare. All the starters went off the field and were replaced by a combination of Thomas Jr., Kidd, Korver, Parsons and O'Neal.

Kidd played as a shooting guard, but in fact he performed the duties of a point guard, while the second-year Thomas Jr. and Parsons were the main attacking arrows, bombarding the Heat's bench lineup.

There are some good players on the Heat's bench, such as Ray Allen, Haslem, Lewis and Norris Cole, etc., but obviously the gap is not as big as 01:30.

In the third quarter of the game, the Rockets successfully expanded the point difference to more than 20 points. At the highest point, the point difference even reached 28 points. The suspense of the game's outcome naturally ended.

(End of this chapter)