Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 275 On Dedication

From the standpoint of professionalism alone, Jeff Van Gundy is definitely a role model in the head coaching world. He can live in the office for a whole week, study about 150 sets of tactics, and then make them into small notes and carry them in his pocket. .No matter how fans criticize or even abuse his rigid stubbornness, he still sticks to his beliefs, insists on his understanding of basketball, and continues to coach.

But when it comes to the field, there may not be many of his 150 sets of tactics left. All the countermeasures are written on the small note in the pocket of the suit.

For example, when you need to win, go to the veteran.

When your lineup is Bobby Jackson, McGrady, Jim Jackson, Witherspoon and Yao Ming, and three and a half of the five positions are defensive holes, if you want to limit the opponent's scoring, you can only slow down the game desperately Rhythm up.

Van Gundy sticks to the traditional basketball plan. The outside players drive the offensive players to the inside and rely on the big man to protect the rim to limit the shooting rate. However, the Lakers have a lot of screens, which makes the Rockets' weak inside ability miserable and will not choose to go to the basket. Next, head-to-head with giants like Yao Ming or Mutombo, pulling them out and killing them with flexibility and range is the correct way to open them.

Nei Nei has worked hard for a summer of small mid-range shooting and has achieved initial results. Whether he is facing Witherspoon or Yao Ming, he has a way to make a calm shot. Varejao's offensive ability is not very good, so he simply does not enter the low post. Has been in the high position to cover for teammates.As soon as Wade has a chance to play a misplaced position, he will directly tear the Rockets' defense line with a quick breakthrough.

On the offensive end, since Tracy McGrady is facing Kobe, the only offensive strength of the Rockets is Yao Ming, but as a center, Yao Ming happens to be the position with the highest demands on his teammates. He needs his teammates to open up space, and then the point guard finds comfort. Angle, feed the ball at a reasonable time.

Witherspoon can't open any space, Nene doesn't need to worry about him at all, half of his attention is ready to help defend Yao Ming; Bobby Jackson is an attack-oriented point guard, passing is not his main direction .

Varejao stuck to Yao Ming's body like a plaster. As soon as Yao Ming made a strong move, he immediately fell down in various positions and waited for the referee to blow his whistle. Although the defensive effect was mediocre, it was more annoying.

Jim made frequent substitutions and adjustments. Halfway through the second quarter, everyone except veteran Vladi Divac got a chance to play.

In contrast to the Rockets, except for Charlie Ward and Juwan Howard, who were replaced early, everyone else played the first quarter, and McGrady even stayed on the court when the second quarter started.

Jim secretly slandered that Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady had fragile bodies, so if they weren't well protected, they'd been dying since the preseason, so why worry about them not being able to hurt them?
The assistant coach of the Rockets is Tom Thibodeau. Needless to say, there is no need to say much about his employment methods, which are in the same line as Van Gundy.

The third lineup of the Lakers composed of Liu Wei, Ariza, Korver, Haslem and Varejao is obviously not strong enough to compete with the Rockets. The point difference is gradually narrowed, and the atmosphere of the "Rockets' home court" is gradually warming up. After all, everyone's support for Yao Ming and the Rockets is relatively higher. Rational fans will not really think that Liu Wei will stay with the Lakers after these two preseason games.

However, the Lakers really put out this suicidal lineup and played until the end of the first half. The 15-point lead established by the starter was squandered. The two sides tied at 51 and entered the intermission.

Kobe made 4 of 3 shots and only scored 7 points. Garnett played 6 minutes and scored 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. He made 10 shots, 7 of 6 free throws, and scored 5 points alone, which is extremely efficient.Liu Wei made 3 of 15 shots and scored 4 points and 2 assist.

For the Rockets, Yao Ming played 20 minutes and scored 17 points and 4 rebounds. McGrady scored 16 points. The performance of the two was fairly stable.

"Trevor, I remember you said before you went on the court, don't force it when the opportunity is bad, pass the ball, and then run again. We have 24 seconds for an attack, even if the ball is not shot in the end, It’s also better than hitting one randomly and then being hit back! And Udonis, you don’t need to be so selfless, take out your mid-range shots in training, and you can explode the few running backs on the opposite side Old guy! And Liu, well done!" Without video clips, Jim could only comment on a few rounds based on his impressions.

Having been back and forth with the Rockets for half the time, Jim felt that the game should be closed, and he didn't want to leave any illusions for the fans.

As the two sides switched back to the main force, Kobe began to take over the game. Since last season, he has gradually developed the habit of exerting force in the third quarter. This is related to the Lakers' routine. In the first quarter, Billups, Artest and Garnett relied on tactical routines to score points, and the second quarter relied on Wade's impact to play the main role. Kobe was mainly responsible for catching the ball, covering the bottom line and providing taunts on the court during these two periods.

The third quarter became Kobe's performance time. Whether he played Charlie Ward in a misplaced position, or Juwan Howard or Yao Ming in a misplaced position, Kobe could draw the corresponding solution from his arsenal, although Van Gundy respected iron and blood Defensive, but when you have a few rust spots on your iron barrel, you can't resist a few hard chisels from the opposite side.

However, the Rockets' rigid offensive system did not have any good results when facing the Lakers' lineup of tacit understanding in the finals. They could only rely on the personal abilities of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming to score points piecemeal.

In a single quarter, Kobe scored 20 points and led the Lakers to a 33-20 score.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers did not deploy a suicide lineup, but played with a normal rotation for 8 minutes, stabilizing the point difference at about 10 points.

As Van Gundy called a surrender timeout and replaced a group of unknown garbage players during garbage time, the first NBA China game ended without any surprise. The Lakers defeated the Rockets 103 to 89.

"If Summer League doesn't count, this should be my first official game as coach. In fact, I didn't do any work, just follow the alarm clock to make substitutions. My assistant coach helped me prepare everything. The work, including the players, is great. They are so on the court, I don't need to make many adjustments. Kobe's perfect performance in the third quarter helped us set the victory. As for Liu, he did a good job. We are working out. He has mastered all the tactics he practiced during the game, and he is very confident in shooting.” After the game, Jim was very humble in an interview.

However, to Van Gundy's ears, these words are not so pleasant. He won the Rockets by more than ten points without doing anything?Doesn't that make me, a conscientious coach, very incompetent?

(End of this chapter)