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Chapter 221 A Poor Imitation

The rest time between festivals is not long. Although Adelman has rich experience, he can't think of any good solution for a while.Soon a flash of lightning flashed through his mind: Why don't we try to play small lineups like the Timberwolves?

With the Rockets' lineup, it's not a problem to play a big and a small lineup. Battier and Ariza are both wing players who can top the fourth position. With the addition of Brooks and Martin, the four players on the outside are already in line. up.As for the inside line, Yao Ming is obviously looking for death if he continues to play, and Scola can't do it either. This is also a big player who relies on his footwork inside.

Adelman set his sights on the honest-looking black boy on the bench - Carl Landry. Isn't this the best choice for the inside?As a second-round pick, Landry was able to gain a foothold in the Rockets because of his enthusiasm in fighting and running, and he also has a mid-range shot. Although he is short, he is still very useful.

It just so happens that Yao Ming hasn't had enough rest time yet, so it's not a big deal to use this lineup that he has never used before at the beginning of the second quarter.Adelman even hopes that this lineup can achieve the expected results, so that the team's tactical manual can add a few more pages, which may play a magical role in some specific situations.

For the head coach's arrangement, the Rockets players feel a little puzzled. Even in training, they have never tried a lineup with such a short average height. This is undoubtedly a bold attempt.Many of them quickly connected the team's new lineup with the performance of the Timberwolves in the first quarter. It seems that the head coach hopes to fight fire with fire and develop his own small lineup.

This discovery cheered everyone up, especially Landry, who was entrusted with important tasks.Although he knows that Battier and Ariza will help him grab rebounds together, he is also the only orthodox inside player in this lineup, which means that he must do all the inside things alone. The pressure is actually not small.

Fortunately, Landry himself is not lacking in hard work. He will bite the bullet even though he knows the task is difficult. Of course, he also believes that he can meet the coach's requirements. Pointing him instead of others means that Adelman has considered it. Well, he is the most suitable one.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Adelman was also complacent about his change.The Rockets' game rhythm has been significantly improved, whether it is switching offense or three-point shooting, this is a state he has never seen in previous games.

But Adelman soon discovered that although the Rockets' offensive firepower seemed to have improved, they still couldn't do anything to their opponents.Of course, this is not because of the lack of Yao Ming and Scola in their lineup, but because he missed the most important point.

The reason why the Timberwolves' one-fourth small lineup is so powerful is entirely because all five of them can shoot three-pointers. However, the Rockets did not notice this when they imitated it.Among the five Rockets players on the court now, Landry can't shoot three-pointers, Brooks is a genius, Ariza is sometimes ineffective, and the only reliable three-point shooters are Martin and Battier.This combination greatly reduces the difficulty of the Timberwolves' defense, and they don't need to be afraid of being empty inside.

When it was the Timberwolves' turn to attack, Landry was able to take care of both high and low defenses, but he was obviously not as strong as Love.As long as the opponent changes from catch and shoot to back crush, he will be blasted to pieces immediately.

When Adelman reacted, the Rockets were already 11 points behind, which made the coach frown.He finally understood that his simple imitation of the Timberwolves had failed, but if he put Yao Ming on the court again, wouldn't he want to replicate the process of the first quarter?In that case, the Rockets are really hopeless, unless the Timberwolves' players will continue to strike iron due to physical decline.

In fact, this can't be blamed on Adelman. Big players like Love who can grab rebounds, play low post-ups and shoot three-pointers from the outside at the same time can be said to be rare, at least there are no such inside players in the Rockets.Whether it is starting Yao Ming, Scola or substitute Landry, Hayes, they are more suitable for interior work, outside is not their comfort zone.

After thinking about it for a long time, Adelman still bit the bullet and put Yao Ming and Scola back on the field. He had already made up his mind to put the Timberwolves players on the defensive end to shoot. That kind of shooting percentage.Anyway, the Rockets with this lineup have an advantage on the offensive end. At worst, both sides don't want to defend, can't it?
I have to say that Adelman made a choice that a normal head coach would make.On the basketball court, the basket and outside the three-point line are the two most cost-effective areas for shooting. Under normal circumstances, the shooting rate under the basket is much higher than that of three-pointers. The only advantage of the latter is that it has an extra 1 point bonus. become.If the Timberwolves don't perform well on the outside, then the Rockets' opportunity will come.

But to Adelman's disappointment, the Timberwolves' three-point shooting percentage did not decline significantly because of the progress of the game, especially Xu Hao, who made a huge contribution to the team in this regard.In addition to finding the right shot to hit the three-pointer himself, he can always find the teammates who are open, and then use the most appropriate way to send the ball to them.

Driven by Xu Hao, the Timberwolves scored 9 three-pointers in this quarter, scored 38 points in a single quarter, and continued to maintain their lead over the Rockets.This also led McHale to praise them fiercely during the break. It seems that the small lineup is still very useful, at least when facing traditional centers, which will be the killer of the Timberwolves.

The Rockets also tried to counterattack in the second half, but the Timberwolves' shooting directly killed their momentum in the cradle.This makes Adelman puzzled, it is reasonable that the player's shooting percentage will decline with the game, why the Timberwolves players can do the opposite in this game?His eyes couldn't help but turned to Xu Hao who was galloping across the field.

Adelman, who once coached Terry Porter and Mike Bibby, knows very well that an excellent guard can always send the ball to the right teammate in the right way at the right time, and their passing is of great importance to the team. There is a bonus to the hit rate.In Adelman's view, Xu Hao is also the same type of player as his former disciple, and he is the secret for the Timberwolves to maintain their shooting percentage!

(End of this chapter)