I'm really not a superstar

Chapter 161 Locker Room Meeting

After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Rockets have lost 4 of their last 3 games.

From the original favorite to win the championship, he turned into a sick cat who was bullied by everyone.

Moreover, the status of the Big Three is also fluctuating. For example, McGrady can score more than 20 points when he meets strong opponents like Kobe and Ray Allen, but he can only score a few points when he encounters less strong opponents. .

This phenomenon of inversion of the number of points and the strength of the opponent can't help but make the outside world seriously doubt his game attitude.

In fact, not only McGrady, Yao Ming and Ci Shiping also encountered a lot of trouble.

After being overused in several consecutive games, Dayao's state plummeted. Not only did his scoring and rebounding drop sharply, but he was also blocked by his opponent 1.4 times per game. That is to say, almost two blocks per game!

Ci Shiping's defense is still iron-blooded, but his offensive talent has been forgotten.The previous powerful singles disappeared, and now he seems to be reduced to a three-point spot-up shooter.

The "Big Three" of the Rockets became the "Pseudo-Big Three", and the three leading brothers became "pseudo-brothers"!
For this phenomenon, the "Houston Chronicle" columnist Fran Bilimberly conducted an in-depth analysis:
"...

In his biography "Ultimate Season", Phil Jackson described the Lakers at the time as a team struggling to find its own soul.

In fact, any team without a mature system can be defined by this.

So far, the Rockets have been a team that hasn't found its soul.

The crisis of the Rockets, in the final analysis, lies in the unreasonable tactics of play.Too often, we see the Rockets' Big Three all crowded on the strong side of the court.

Everyone wants to get more possessions, but everyone can't play their role.

When we saw Beast Artest turned into a crappy three-point shooter, and Yao Ming, the inside pillar, could only gain a sense of presence by fighting for rebounds, we knew how serious the problem of this Rockets was!
The Rockets need a real organizer who dares to take responsibility, bravely endure the decline in data, and silently connect the team with unpretentious passes.

The only person who can do this is McGrady.

But his willingness to pass the ball is as unpredictable as his injuries, and this has also inverted the Rockets' confusion.

……

However, in any case, McGrady is the team, and even the league's best organizer.

In the second half against the Lakers, when McGrady, who was willing to pass the ball, appeared, we saw a different Rockets team.A ball can freely shuttle between the strong side and the weak side of the court, and the Rockets run freely and smoothly.

What is certain is that the Rockets can do better, and everything depends on how the person holding the key chooses.

That person is Maddie! "

In the face of the hustle and bustle of public opinion, the Rockets have not been idle.

On the second day of the game against the Lakers, Yao Ming, Battier and Dikembe Mutombo, who is still on the injured list, organized a secret meeting attended by veteran players.

This is also the traditional operation of NBA teams. When encountering problems, the first thing that comes to mind is to solve them in the locker room.And the person who organizes the meeting is the boss of the team.

The content of the meeting is unknown to the outside world, but judging from the expressions of everyone after the meeting, the discussion was very good.

Dorsey approached Dayao, licked his face and asked quietly: "What exactly did you study, Dayao?"

Dayao laughed, "What we are studying is..."

"What is it?"

"Don't tell Joey Dorsey about the meeting!"

"Depend on!"

The effect of the meeting needs to be verified by the competition.

On the third day after the game against the Lakers, the Rockets were a guest in Phoenix to face the Phoenix Suns.

In terms of strength on paper alone, the Suns are a strong team.

The team has "Shark" O'Neal and "Small Overlord" Stoudemire inside, and Nash, the league's top pass master, passes the ball to them.

On the bench, Dragic, Grant Hill, Robin Lopez, Leandro Barbosa and many other famous players are also sitting.

But it is such a team, but it has not played a record that matches its reputation.

They are in the throes of a coaching change.

Coach Dantney, who led the Suns to play the fast-playing whirlwind that swept the league, has left.

Accompanied by his departure was the ridicule of "cannonball will never win the championship".

The new coach Porter decided to change his style of play, abandoning bombardment, and no longer centering on Nash, but using O'Neal as the axis to conduct half-court battles.

In the previous game, they even scored 0 fast break points!

You know, this is the Suns team that is famous all over the world for running and bombing!
In a sense, they are farther away from their souls than the Rockets.

In the past, the Suns suffered from the Rockets because they could run. The Rockets with Yao Ming as the core found it difficult to keep up with the agile pace of the Phoenix people.

Stoudemire, who was the same age as Yao Ming, was always excited when he played against Yao Ming. Every time he played against Yao Ming, he didn't make a few dunks on Yao Ming's head, but he felt that something was missing.

But now, their core is O'Neal who is slower than Yao Ming.Maybe the young shark can roam the world, but now he is old and the hero is late.

How could the Suns, who are still in a hasty transition period, be the opponent of the Rockets who have played center tactics for so many years.

It's also playing a half-court attack, the Phoenix people are playing a big ax in front of Lu Ban, and Guan Gong is playing a big knife in front of him!

The battle between Yao and Shark was still fierce, but for Yao Ming, it was far easier than chasing Stoudemire's ass before.

Stoudemire, who came to the power forward position, faced the flexible Scola, and the younger, physically fit Joey Dorsey!

Dorsey's playing time in this game was not particularly long. The reason is very simple. It's not that he played badly, but that the main players played very well.

In positional battles, the Rockets won't suffer in almost every position.Including the always weak point guard.

Facing Nash's small body defense, Alston, the streetball king, can still easily pass through the opponent's soul!
And when the Suns fell into the quagmire of positional warfare, Nash's passing skills were useless.The passing master, like the most mediocre guard, can only hang the ball inside, and then watch the old Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming fight hand-to-hand.

In the final technical statistics, Nash actually only had 3 assists!
Do you believe it?
It took only three quarters for the game to be settled, and the Rockets led by 19 points in the first three quarters!
Just when everyone thought the game was entering garbage time, when the fourth quarter came up, there was a "little climax".

As soon as the fourth quarter came up, Alston received a pass from McGrady and scored a layup.

But after scoring the goal, the streetball king rushed to Barnes of the Suns like a furious lion.

The two had dissatisfied with each other as early as in the previous physical contact. Barnes, who was anxious to lose this time, once again defended too much, which was a bit malicious and provocative, which angered the streetball king.

The scene suddenly fell into chaos. Nash, Tracy McGrady and other players all joined in. Both sides spammed each other on the field. McGrady pushed Nash down with both hands in a rage, O'Neal also joined, and Yao Ming and McGrady were also pushed down.

Then the incident escalated. The Suns coach Porter rushed into the field, and Alston, who was full of blood, wrestled with him. The scene was quite chaotic.

Finally, after a long period of processing, the incident finally subsided, and both Barnes and the angry Alton were sent off.

This episode did not change the final result, the Rockets easily defeated the Suns 94:82.

Due to the media's embellished reports on the Rockets' locker room meeting, fans have had an illusion that this meeting brought the team a big victory.

This meeting was also rumored to be miraculous, saying that it was a meeting of unity, victory, forging ahead, and a meeting of the past and the future!

Dorsey also joked with Yao Ming, is this the "Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee" of our team!Will it be completely out of order in the future?

Dayao smiled, but said lightly: "I hope!"

(End of this chapter)