basketball kingdom

Chapter 18

After landing smoothly, Xu Tian didn't show any expression on his face.This kind of expression reached the eyes of the audience. They naturally thought that Xu Tian was a cold-faced killer, and they were all amazed that Xu Tian could remain calm after such a passionate dunk.

In fact, the real situation is not like this. When Xu Tian walked towards the free throw line, he secretly thought, "MD, the muscles still need to be practiced, it's like hitting a wall."

Xu Tian's free throw was not affected by the collision just now, the ball bounced twice and entered the net.

After the Lakers served, the coach called a timeout, because Xu Tian's dunk greatly boosted the morale of the Rockets, and they needed a timeout to slow down the momentum.

"Xu Tian is in really good form today. He scored 8 points within a few minutes of the opening. Director Zhang, how many points do you think he can get in this game?" After a pause, the camera returned to the Tencent live broadcast room, and Liu Jiachao asked.

Director Zhang listened to Liu Jiachao's question, and said, "Xu Tian started off well, but I think he will score more than 20 points in this game, and the most is 30 points."

Liu Jiachao asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Xu Tian has a strong desire to attack this time. There are two reasons. One is that he wants to prove himself, and the other is that the Lakers have a good defense against the Rockets. Xu Tian needs to use personal offense to force the Lakers to make defensive adjustments. When a pass-first point guard starts to attack, it means that their offense is in trouble. After returning from this timeout, I think Xu Tian's personal offense should be reduced." Director Zhang made his own plan from a professional point of view. analyze.

When he was sitting on the bench, Xu Tian's right hand was still aching. The dunk just now was too hard, which made him bear certain consequences.

Xu Tian couldn't understand what Bickerstaff was talking about, but he still tried his best to look at the lines he drew on the tactical board. Apart from simple pick-and-roll coordination, there were also some tactics such as passing and cutting.

The Lakers have no foreign players here, so the tactical layout is much simpler. The coach squatted in front of the players, and first praised the center of their team, "You did a good job, I like your performance! After returning to the court , continue to physically confront Clint Capela and try to drain him as much as possible."

The Lakers center wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and nodded quietly.His height is not high in the interior, and his movement speed is not fast. His only selling point is his muscles. If he can't even do these things, he will have no chance to play.

The Lakers coach did not pay too much attention to the center, turned his head and said to Russell: "You continue to move without the ball on the offensive end to help the team open up the offensive space. As long as the opponent's defense is lax, you can Just shoot a three-pointer."

Those who are in the Summer League are either rookies or marginal people, or free agents who want to find opportunities. Who dare not listen to the coach's arrangement.Even this year's No. [-] Russell nodded, saying that he had received a message from the coach.

"You two, as long as Xu gets the ball, go over and help D'Angelo defend." The coach looked at Nance Jr. and the shooting guard, and continued to arrange the next tasks for the two.

"Coach, do you mean to let us double-team Xu?" Xiao Nance asked in disbelief when he heard what the coach said.

The Lakers coach immediately gave the answer and said, "That's right, it's double-teaming! The only organizer in the Rockets' lineup is Xu, try to consume his energy as much as possible, and double-team him as long as he has the ball."

Little Nance's lips moved, but he still didn't say anything to complain.

Double-teaming is a defensive technique that interferes with the opponent's possession of the ball in advance. It is mainly used to defend players with very strong scoring ability.When the offensive player is dribbling, use two players to assist in defense and synchronize defensive pinching to disrupt the opponent's offensive line. This is a more commonly used defensive method in the game.

The referee's whistle sounds and the timeout ends.

Xu Tian quietly took a sip of Gatorade, handed the towel to the team's equipment manager, and returned to the field for the game.

The Lakers attack, Russell holds the ball to advance, and the Rockets' shooting guard still defends him.

This is the strategy set by Bickerstaff. He is also very clear that the only organizer in the Rockets Summer League lineup is Xu Tian, ​​and he needs to help Xu Tian save his energy as much as possible.

Xu Tian is defending the Lakers shooting guard. Relatively speaking, he is a player with not strong offensive ability, and the defensive pressure will be relatively small.

According to the coach's instructions, Nance Jr. stepped up his confrontation with McDaniels, trying to stir up McDaniels' emotions.But McDaniels was smart and didn't fall into the opponent's trap.

The Lakers power forward put up a screen, Russell took advantage of the block to break through, and chose a mid-range shot from the free throw line.

The shot missed, and Capela jumped twice to take the defensive rebound over the head of the Lakers center.

Although facing the consumption of the Lakers center and power forward in turn, Capela still didn't break a sweat. Xu Tian noticed this when he saw him grab rebounds.

Capela passed the ball to Xu Tian, ​​and Xu Tian dribbled the ball across halftime.

Although Russell was a little unconvinced, he was still a rookie and could only defend Xu Tian with the shooting guard.

The English commentator saw the two Lakers players putting defensive pressure on Xu Tian, ​​and couldn't help asking in surprise: "Are you joking? Using double-teams in the Summer League?"

"This just shows that Xu is strong enough. You must know that in the league, there are not many people who can enjoy double-team treatment." I am optimistic about Xu Tian's commentary. After seeing his opening, his tone is more biased towards Xu Tian.

Kobe in the mansion in Los Angeles couldn't help laughing when he saw Xu Tian facing double-teaming. He also didn't expect that Xu Tian would encounter double-teaming in Xia Lian.

Xu Tian looked at the two people in front of him, with a smile on the corner of his mouth. This kind of defense is exactly what he wants to face.

The ball flew into the hands of the Rockets shooting guard, who was now open, jumped up after receiving the ball, and completed a mid-range shot.

The Lakers coach folded his arms around his chest, and the expression on his face was still calm when he saw the Rockets shooting guard score.He knew that Xu Tian was the king of assists in Xia Lian, but he was more accepting of the current situation than letting Xu Tian attack.

At 8 minutes into the first quarter, the Rockets had a regular rotation, and Xu Tian came to the court to rest.

At this point the score on the court was 18-22, with the Rockets leading by 4 points.

The backup point guard's performance is like a god's help. He is usually extremely pitted. After playing this time, he hit two consecutive three-pointers, directly extending the lead to 8 points (the Lakers hit a mid-range shot).

Xu Tian didn't wave the towel to him, but celebrated him in his heart. Now that the difference in points allowed Xu Tian to rest more, he naturally didn't want to waste too much energy.

With 6 minutes left in the second quarter, the Rockets led 46-44 by 2 points, and Bickerstaff replaced Xu Tian at this time.

After Xu Tian came on the court, he continued to face the Lakers' double-team and passed the ball directly to McDaniels who was on the wing.

The Rockets' main attack point in the second quarter was McDaniels, who didn't have to break through the ball, let alone organize the offense.After getting the ball, the only thing he has to do is to play singles with the ball.

In the regular season, McDaniels was a fringe player, but in the summer league, he can be regarded as an ace scorer.

With McDaniels' continuous breakthroughs, at the end of the first half, the Rockets led the Lakers by 60 points 55-5.

整个上半场，徐天上场14分钟，投篮6-4，罚球2-2，拿下了10分5篮板3助攻2抢断；拉塞尔上场15分钟，投篮3-2，拿下了5分2篮板2助攻。

In domestic sports forums, there was a discussion about Xu Tian and Russell's performance in the first half. The general argument was that Xu Tian was much better than Russell.

Lakers fans even said that after seeing Xu Tian's dunk, they were already crying in the toilet.

Russell was not very happy, and sat in a corner after returning to the locker room.He is the second pick, but he has to defend Xu Tian with others, which makes him a little frustrated.

The Lakers coach came to Russell and said, "Don't be discouraged. The main attack point in the third quarter will be on you, and you can respond with performance. Do you still have enough energy?"

When Russell heard this, he immediately regained his spirits and replied, "I'm fine! I'll help the Lakers take the lead."

In the Rockets locker room, there is a staff member who understands both languages, who translates Bickerstaff's words to Xu Tian. This is the only time Xu Tian can understand Bickerstaff's arrangement every game.

"This game is very different from previous games. We didn't open the score in the first half." Bickerstaff made a summary of the first half and began to arrange the tactics for the third quarter. "The Lakers are obviously guarding against the inside, but Clint still needs to strengthen his personal offense in the third quarter and try to kill their center."

Capela nodded. In the first half, his stats were 4 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. His offensive role was not too much, and he only took three shots.

Bickerstaff looked at McDaniels and said, "You are still the core of the perimeter in the third quarter. You have an advantage in experience against Nance Jr., and you will complete the offense from the perimeter."

After talking with the other players, Bickerstaff turned to Xu Tian and said, "Xu, you are mainly in charge of organizing in the third quarter. This game is very anxious, and it is likely to reach a critical moment. I need you performed at that time."

The staff translated Bickerstaff's words to Xu Tian, ​​and Xu Tian nodded, indicating that he had received his instructions.

Throughout the third quarter, both sides played their own arrangements. Russell shot 8-4 in this quarter, including 6-3 three-pointers, and scored 11 points to help the Lakers lead the score.

When the main players on both sides were off the court, the Lakers led the Rockets by 76 points 72-4.

The post titled "Russell showed off his No. 11 demeanor and scored 2 points in the third quarter" appeared after the third quarter. At the end of the post, Xu Tian's performance in the third quarter was posted, with 4 points, 2 rebounds and [-] assists.

The fans who had vowed to say that Russell was going to lose water changed into their own trumpets, and posted that they always believed in Russell, and said that the fans who were not optimistic about Russell before were nothing but fools.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Rockets were led by Capela, and the scores of the two sides rose alternately.

With 7 minutes left in the game, Bickerstaff called a timeout and replaced Xu Tian, ​​who had rested for a long time, back on the field.

(End of this chapter)