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Chapter 219 No-fly zone

After returning to the hotel overnight, Xu Hao looked full of energy when he woke up the next day, which also made McHale very satisfied. It seems that Xu Hao still obeyed his request last night, and did not drink any alcohol when he went out for dinner .For an experienced person like McHale, he can tell at a glance whether the other party is really energetic or just pretending.

But when he thought about the opponent he was going to face tonight, McHale's good mood was completely ruined. The Rockets are not easy to mess with. They are now sitting around in the west. He took over the burden of the team's outside scorer very well, and Yao Ming was truly established as the team's head star. Together with Shane Battier, Brooks, Ariza, Scola and other strong players, the Houston Legion The strength of the team cannot be underestimated, and it is not something the Timberwolves can easily defeat.

For the Rockets' outside line, McHale did not have much pressure. Although the Timberwolves' outside line combination is not as famous as their opponents, their strength is still guaranteed. The only thing that worries McHale is the inside line.Yao Ming is currently the No. [-] center in the league. Coupled with the experienced Scola, the strength of this pair can be said to surpass the Lakers' Pau Gasol + Bynum.Regardless of the inside or outside of the Timberwolves, they will feel tremendous pressure when facing them, and it is very difficult to solve it.

Xu Hao has shown strong three-point firepower in previous games. Ellington, Brewer and even Love have good outside shots, but McHale does not dare to let them fire unscrupulously from the outside.In addition to worrying about rebounding control, the Rockets' first-class perimeter defense is also a major factor. Battier and Ariza are both the league's top perimeter defenders.

Under such circumstances, McHale can only let the team play according to normal tactics first, and then adapt to the situation when the game is played.At the same time, he repeatedly told Love and DeAndre Jordan not to lose the opportunity in the fight inside.Of course Yao Ming is very strong, but if you don't even have the courage to fight, then the Timberwolves don't need to play this game at all.

Regarding McHale's advice, the Timberwolves' two insiders attached great importance to it. It's not that they didn't fight Yao Ming last season.Although Yao Ming's movement speed is not very fast, his ability to protect the frame is too strong, and any low-post singles will not be smooth sailing.

In fact, Xu Hao is also very nervous in his heart. He can't stay outside the three-point line forever. Breaking through and laying up is also a very important way for him to score, let alone others. Brewer's transition attack and Ellington The bottom line cuts need to directly face the defense of the inside players, that is to say, they also have to single out Yao Ming in the three-second zone during the game.

Xu Hao thinks that he is well prepared. He is not only familiar with the game against the Rockets in the system, but also watched some highlights of the Rockets' games this season. However, Yao Ming's defensive power is still far beyond him. imagination.

The meal the night before was obviously not enough for Yao Ming to let go of the game. This is a player with a truly professional attitude. Xu Hao had to choose to pass the ball again because of his defense for the first time in this game. second zone.At the basket, Yao Ming's huge body naturally has its own deterrent force, and Xu Hao dare not bite the bullet and directly challenge his defense.

Xu Hao soon understood that he was right not to challenge Yao Ming's defense, because Ellington's breakthrough layup along the baseline was directly blocked by Yao Ming, and then Brooks beat him with his speed advantage A quick counterattack.

Although Yao Ming's blocks don't look as thrilling as Howard's, he is very powerful. After being blocked by him, Ellington was knocked to the ground with a strong force and shouted " "Bang" a loud noise.Xu Hao couldn't help but shrink his neck. If he had just made a layup and tried to score, he would probably end up no better than Ellington.

The next one who doesn't believe in evil is Love. Although McHale emphasized the need to be careful of Yao Ming, as the core and chief scorer of the team, he can't stop attacking in the low post.It's a pity that Yao Ming's downside power is not comparable to Love's. His post-up singles can hardly move forward to the basket, so he had to turn around and shoot.However, Love tried his best to stay away from Yao Ming's shot and was disturbed. The rebound was easily accepted by Ariza, and Jordan was directly blocked by Scola.

Thanks to Yao Ming's dominance in the paint, the Rockets got off to a 9-0 start. With Yao Ming's easy hook over Jordan, McHale called the game's first timeout.There is no way, Yao Ming's threat is too great, he must come up with a practical strategy now, otherwise he can only watch this giant insider continue to wreak havoc.

McHale's idea was to make substitutions, remove Jordan and let Gomez appear on the field, that is, to change the lineup on the field into one big and four small.In this way, all five players have shooting ability, and they don't need to go deep inside to score all the time, so they can avoid the no-fly zone set by Yao Ming.The only problem is that rebounds are hard to grab. Love can't hold on alone, so he can only let others encircle him to grab defensive rebounds. As for offensive rebounds, it seems good for Brewer and Xu Hao to go for them. s Choice.

Of course, McHale couldn't guarantee the success of his strategy, but he had to try anyway, otherwise he could only wait for Yao Ming to blow up their entire team.But if the player's hand feeling is not very good, it is a cocoon.

Jordan seemed a little disappointed with the head coach's decision, but he still obediently accepted the arrangement.As a defensive center, he felt that he couldn't guard against Yao Ming's low post offense and mid-range shooting. He might as well look at the situation off the court first.Moreover, he has played in the Clippers as a freshman and junior, so he is very clear about McHale's thoughts.

Before going on the court, McHale put down the tactical board and solemnly instructed: "You must give full play to your mobility. If Yao Ming can't defend, he can form a five-on-four situation on the outside; if he moves to a high position to defend , Just before he returned to the defensive position, he went through the back door for an air cut layup. You just need to remember one sentence, avoid his defensive range, understand?"

Everyone shouted together: "Understood!" Then everyone high-fived and hugged each other, ready to return to the court to face the giant who had made them ashamed in the previous rounds. This time they believed that the new tactics would definitely have a different effect.

(End of this chapter)