Reborn NBA's Strongest Talent

Chapter 41 41. The Retreat
"Hi! Russell!" A thick black shadow swooped in and swallowed Westbrook...

Harden hugged Westbrook.

"Today I'm here for revenge!"

"Come here if you can, I will prevent you from dribbling steadily!" Westbrook gave Harden a blank look, and the fat man became heavier again.

The players next to him laughed wildly, not surprised by the behavior of the two.

Harden is also a product of the Thunder's Whampoa Military Academy. In 09, he was named No. [-]. He was one of the draft masterpieces of the Thunder's management. He played for the Thunder for three years. He was selected to the All-Rookie Team in the first year.

Even if it's only for the third team, Harden, who wins honors every year, has already shown the embryonic form of a future star.

Together with Durant and Westbrook, they were collectively known as the "Three Young Thunder".A combination of young punches beat the entire league.

In the second season of entering the league, he reached the Western Conference finals and lost to the champion team Dallas Mavericks; in the second year, he succeeded in the first round of revenge, and defeated the Lakers and Spurs in succession to enter the finals. Unfortunately, he lost to the thriving Heat Big Three and lost the championship.

In the fourth season, the originally smug Thunder three were preparing to fight another round. Harden hoped to get a contract extension of 1500 million per year, but the Thunder executives only offered 4 million for 5600 years, and the reason was only 100 million per year. Harden agreed to the offer sent by the Rockets and left the Thunder.

In exchange for Kevin Martin, it turns out that two Kevins cannot exist in the same team at the same time, and it is easy to misunderstand when calling their names.

When Kevin Love went to the Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett also left.

Since then, the Thunder have never reached the Western Conference Finals.

Do you want to say that Harden is important to the Thunder?Metaphysics tells you it might be true.

Although he left the Thunder and had conflicts with the Thunder's management, Harden has always had a good personal relationship with his two big brothers Durant and Westbrook, which is why he greeted him like this.

Harden grinned his big mouth hidden in his beard. In fact, others still couldn't see it. "I kept my hand in the last game to save you. This game will see me score points."

Westbrook handed the ball to Harden, "Come on, chop one and show me."

Harden took the ball as soon as he took it, and the signature step-back three-pointer came as soon as he said it.

The reason why Harden's step-back three-pointer can become the only one in the league is that he can quickly tap twice with his non-supporting foot when retreating, and the movement of the supporting foot reaches two steps.

Of course, there are various discussions about whether Harden is a walk or not.

Whether it is a walk or not, the rules have the final say, and the referee has the final say. Anyway, Harden was not blown out of the walk because of this.

To be able to see the opponent's stunts up close, this opportunity is very precious to Richard.Especially since the direction of my own practice is exactly the same.

Of course, it is impossible to learn. Except for Harden, no one has used this kind of footsteps without being blown away.

Harden shot a step-back three-pointer over Westbrook's head, clearly meant to show off, so Westbrook fought back.

After taking another ball, Westbrook imitated Harden and used a retreat step... ah hey, he retreated to the bench, be careful of wrestling!
"Hahaha..." This is the first time Richard has seen such a harmonious warm-up before the game.

But no matter how good the harmonious coexistence is, the winner will still be decided on the court, and they will not hold back.

No, Harden wanted to break through in front of Westbrook, but was firmly guarded outside the three-point line. No matter how Harden changed direction, he couldn't succeed.

In the end, he could only end the matchup with a step-back three-pointer, but he didn't make a hit.

Teammates for three years, Harden and Westbrook are too familiar with each other. It is too difficult to defeat each other only by skills, not because of physical talent.

Moreover, Westbrook's defense against Harden is much more serious than usual. Is the brother more serious?

It reminded Richard that he would not take defense seriously when playing with unfamiliar people on the field, and minimize physical contact and conflicts. Is it reasonable to defend against his brothers instead?

Perhaps driven by Westbrook, the Thunder did a good job of restricting Harden in the first quarter. Harden made 6 of 3 shots in the first 0 minutes and only scored 2 points with free throws.

But Harden doesn't just rely on himself to score, he also works part-time to organize and use his assists to revitalize his teammates to score.

The Rockets' magic ball theory has created a three-point team, a team that relies on three-pointers even more than the Warriors.

Richard came off the bench. It may be that Donovan wanted Richard to get closer to feel the opponent's retreat. Obviously when Richard and Oladipo were on the court, Richard, who was taller, could swing to the wing and play small forward, but was arranged to face Harden.

Harden's playing depends more on IQ than body, super reading ability and reasonable use of rules, coupled with super ball handling ability and ability to score suddenly and shoot, Harden has become a league superstar in a few years.

Harden's breakthrough has a characteristic. You can see that he is usually slow and dribbled, and he looks powerless when he dribbles, but he will burst into a fast speed when you let down your vigilance, or quickly dribble the ball and fly to defend, or directly break through and hit the basket.

Facing Harden, Richard cheered up.

Continuously dribbling the ball under the crotch, Richard knew that Harden was looking for a breakthrough at this time.

When it started, Harden broke through to the right first, and Richard followed and Harden immediately pulled it back. After changing hands under the crotch, he changed to the left. Richard adjusted the center and moved again, and Harden changed back to the breakthrough direction again.

This kind of continuous breakthrough pulls back and changes direction, and it is easy to shake the defender down, because the defender is constantly turning and stopping and starting.

Richard knew that this move was Harden's unique skill, and he had watched the video before to study this ability. The defense would definitely be unstoppable. Follow-up breakthroughs or three-pointers were fine, but at least he kept his own defense and never lost his position easily.

Harden received a breakthrough at the end. After being shaken away, Richard could only follow behind. Adams defended, Harden took advantage of the situation and threw it into the air.

The defense being broken by the offense does not mean that he is not good. Richard also received a pass from Westbrook when he was attacking.

Richard is also quite confident in his offensive ability now, and he also chose to fight hard against Harden.

Harden is taller than Richard, and Richard has the advantage of weight, so he can't rush in with his weight.

When the breakthrough failed, Richard quickly pulled the ball back, took a step back and shot a jumper.

Harden didn't keep up with the footsteps, but stretched out his hand from a distance, looking lazily trying to guard against it.

The result, of course, was that Richard scored 2 points on Harden's head and used a retreat.

This made Harden's expression a bit subtle, except that his eyes could see that Harden was staring a little wider, and the movement of his mouth could not be seen, which was completely covered by his thick beard.

On the next ball, Harden still holds the ball.

It's not just about finding the field. The Rockets' starting point guard is Patrick Beverly, who is weak offensively and strong defensively, not to mention the ball-handling organization. Harden is both a father and a mother, and the scoring organization grabs it.

Dribbling the ball between his legs in quick succession, Harden raised his head and looked at Richard seriously, occasionally getting up and dribbling a few high balls to keep the rhythm changing.

After several consecutive operations, Harden suddenly exploded the ball and kicked the ground, making a breakthrough.

Richard wanted to react quickly, but he still took a step slower. Harden chose to take a three-pointer step back.

Harden, who missed three consecutive shots, shot very steadily this time, and the ball crossed an arc and fell into the net.

This is also a response to Richard's offense.

Take a step back, or someone from me is stronger, do you dare to vote for this kind?
Making a celebration of salt, Harden dedicated a good goal to the fans of his home team.

Sure enough, the gap can be seen better in close-range defense, and Richard's retreat is already a very smooth movement.

But Harden can't be called smooth at all, he can already be called silky.

The breakthrough movement is very large, which can cause the defender's center of gravity to shift; the usually super slow, fast rhythm change can also make the defender feel tired and unable to keep up.

The last thing is to blast the ball vigorously before the action, which can often attract the attention of the defender.

Some people want to say that defense is to watch the ball, so that it is not easy to be deceived by fake moves.

But it is wrong to ignore people at all. Every movement will have a forward swing movement, and many forward swing movements correspond to technical movements that will not change. If you can't see these movements, you can't keep up with defense.

By blasting the ball to disturb the defender, Harden can make a steady hit.

Learned it again.

Before the second round of the step-back duel, Harden went off to rest first.

After the entire first quarter, the Thunder fell behind by 2 points with a higher shooting percentage, 30:28.

The Rockets' magic ball theory is that three-pointers and the basket are the most efficient ways to score. In the first quarter, they shot 12 three-pointers wildly, but luckily they only made two of them.

He got a lot of free throws by finishing at the basket.

Thunder was even worse, only Richard made a three-pointer.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Richard continued to use his breakthrough and retreat to drive the team's offense.

The Rockets' Eric Gordon also used his powerful three-point ability to score continuously.

The Rockets, who are accustomed to playing nine-man rotations, took the lead in replacing Harden back on the court.

I don't know if Harden did it on purpose. When he saw Richard, he used a step-back three-pointer, but the touch or luck was not good. Richard couldn't defend against it and failed to make two consecutive shots.

Richard was also replaced by Westbrook who played, and the superstar played to compete.

The retreat step in the first half made more hits, but no one should record this data.

While complaining about himself, Richard secretly calculated this strange data comparison to encourage himself.

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(End of this chapter)