At the end of the Christmas war, Deng Ge exposed a bruise on his left calf, and the game became suspicious, which was undoubtedly a disaster for the rocket. Nowadays, this rocket has Harden and no Harden is completely the difference between Xi Shi and Dong Shi, it is completely the gap between Yui Niigaki and Luo Yufeng, and it is completely the distance between the original Sha Yangli teacher and those shoddy Internet celebrities on the Internet!
Therefore, the German coach said a very meaningful sentence before today's game, "Only if the situation is very bad, Harden will not play." He came this morning to do the stretching and preparation, so I expect him to play.... He loves to play and I think that's the underrated aspect of him. We can count on him to play 40 minutes per game. ”
If you have to find a word to describe Deshuai's words, it can only be true. When I think that when a championship coach surnamed Lu in the East another James, he didn't say it so brightly. The fact that the coach can say so truthfully that "expect Harden to work 40 minutes per game" points to the fact that everyone in the world knows what Harden means to the Rockets, and the coach is undoubtedly the one who understands best. So there's no need to hide it.
There's only one question in front of Coach Stevens today, and one question for all the other coaches in the league — how to defend James Harden?
Rockets' first offensive round: Harden and Capela high block demolition, Smart and Horford double forward bag clip delay, Harden passed to Capela was interfered with by Horford, the Green Army formed a steal, Irving advanced to face Harden a dragon to play.
The second offensive round: the Rockets went online double cover, Tucker covered and then went to the right wing 45 degrees, Capela directly down, Smart and Horford formed a short 2 defense 1, Harden first found 45 degrees Tucker, Smart first time to return, if this time Tucker position is Standing on Gordon, Smart returns to the position is too late.
From Coach Stevens' point of view, you can't expect Horford to interfere with Harden's pass every time, and you can't expect Tucker, who is not fast to shoot every time you come up to shield Harden. So the Green Army began to perform unlimited changes of defense, giving the Rockets as few opportunities as possible to empty the position, Harden you can play, but you can only stand up to my Celtics defenders singles.
What are the Celtics' defensive players equipped with? I have Smart, who can tear and bite, I have Tatum, who is tall and arm-length, energetic, and I have Horford, who is experienced defensively and extremely stable.
But! None of them work! Whether it was Tatum or Horford switching to Harden, they were all a little tempered by a move back and three points. Horford, in particular, when harden broke through closely, and when he took a step, Harden directly retreated three points, making Horford once doubt whether his best defensive second team last year was coming!
In fact, the Green Army also hesitated to change the defense indefinitely, when Harden faced Tatum's retreat step three-point shot in the next round, the Green Army faced Harden and Capela's double blocking and chose the double bag delay, this time Horford failed to interfere with Harden's score, Capela went down to the basket and caused a foul on Horford who returned to the defense.
Since then, the Green Army has firmly changed its defense strategy, preferring to be killed by Harden alone rather than let him lead the entire Rocket Team. Then we saw Harden play Horford, play Theis, play Hayward, because Hayward moved slowly, and was replaced by Harden with a singles.
At the same time, the Green Army's unlimited change of defense is not only as simple as being singled by Harden, but also has another problem - rebounding. On the defensive end, because the big men of the Green Army are constantly changing defenses to the outside line, and Capela is waiting under the basket to grab the board or eat cake after the block is demolished, so the two sides rebound 54-38, the frontcourt board 16-7, Capela alone grabbed 18 rebounds, 9 frontcourt boards! By the way, Capela grabbed 23 rebounds in both the last two games against the Spurs and the Thunder.
Capela must be very familiar with this scene, when the Rockets fully implemented the infinite change of defense at the beginning of the season, Capela was often transferred to the outside line and could not get the rebound, and now the Rockets are no longer obsessed with infinite changes, Capela can finally shout: "Still comfortable under the basket!" ”
For the Rockets, in the face of the Green Army's unlimited change of defense, they also need to solve a problem - Harden's physical strength problems. Everyone knows that Harden's physical strength is now the lifeline of the Rockets, and his singles efficiency is high, but once the physical strength declines, Harden will also become an iron god, so what kind of connection section of the Rockets can be played depends on how long Harden can rest, and further determines the victory or defeat of the Rockets' game.
Coach Stevens wouldn't be unaware of this, so he just waited for the rocket's chance to make a mistake in the transition section and Harden's physical fitness decline. But no one ever expected the Rockets' mixed lineup to be so powerful, whether it was Gordon's breakthrough, Rivers Jr.'s three-pointer, House's counterattack, Deng Ge rested on the bench for four or five minutes, which was crucial to alleviating his physical fitness.
Equally surprising — the Rockets didn't have a problem in the connection section, but the Rockets' offense came to a standstill after Dengo played in the middle of the second quarter. It may be that Dengge felt too good in the first quarter, and after a break in the second quarter, the hand felt cold, and the outside line BangBang played iron, and could only change to a surprise.
What a keen team the Green Army is, after catching this, the whole team immediately contracted to protect the basket, and Deng ge began to score the ball and his teammates could not shoot. Later, he simply did it himself, and the more he did so, the more resolutely the Green Army contracted, and the whole second quarter denggo was 6 of 0, and the free throw was not caught once.
In addition, the Rockets no longer change defenses indefinitely, and the defensive end tests the tacit understanding between teammates, but because the Rockets have played for too long to change defenses indefinitely, they always overlap their running positions. Especially when the Green Army plays a high block, they often chase the ball player at the same time, or two people chase the ballless person together, which gives the Green Army the opportunity to empty the position.
As long as the Green Army's ball turns, they can always catch all kinds of open positions, three-pointers and misalignments. The Rockets could not attack and defend and began to be impatient, eating 3 technical fouls in a row, the Green Army took this to stabilize the position, and the Rockets' lead of up to 17 points was quickly flattened.
In the second half, the Green Army changed its defensive strategy and cut the field in two. A 45-degree downward area in the three-point line, when the Rockets in this area to block the demolition, the double bag to Harden, because this area is very small, even if Harden first passed to the Rockets players who cut inside, the Green Army still had time to defend, and such a small space pass is easy to be broken.
If Harden didn't play the ball in the first place, he would have pushed him to the bottom line. Once the two men form a bag in the bottom corner, Harden either makes a strong shot or makes a large-scale transfer from the bottom line to the weak side, and once Harden passes the ball, the Green Army players on the bottom line have the opportunity to cut the ball.
Another area is 45 degrees above the three-point line, and if the rocket is blocked in this area, the Green Army will still use the change of defense.
Dengo quickly discovered the Green Army's strategy, and in the second half of the third quarter, all the Rockets' blocking occurred in the 45-degree upward area of the three-point line, and Harden used it to score three consecutive three-pointers. The first Theiss changed defenses and retreated to shoot Tess; the second Theiss wanted to switch back with Smart immediately after changing defenses, and Deng Ge seized this gap to dry pull three points; the third faced Jaylen Brown's continuous crotch change and then retreated three points.
If it weren't for Irving and Morris fighting with hardened immortals on the offensive end, I don't know what the situation would be like at the end of the third quarter.
The psychology of the athlete on the field is very peculiar, when you have tried your best to defend, and the opponent still throws a few answer balls, which will give the athlete a great psychological hint. This kind of goal will hit the defensive player's inner bottom line again and again, can you still defend as firmly as ever?
The Rockets went completely crazy in the fourth quarter, and after Baynes was injured, the Green Army's interior line was actually relatively weak. Horford is not tall enough, the basket is difficult; Theis is tall enough, but his experience and strength are far behind, not as good as Horford!
As a result, when the Rockets impacted, the Green Army could not protect the basket without shrinking, and when the center went to assist in the breakthrough of the ball carrier, Capela was eating cake or the frontcourt board. Once the Green Army contracted, the Rockets began to play high blocking and Capela's downside, the weak side of a defense, Green was let go, the fourth quarter Green into the two three points are such a routine.
And Harden, who the Green Army still can't solve! The rhythm of Harden in the fourth quarter is a constant crotch change to crotch change direction, three points! enter! Or constantly changing crotch to crotch changing direction, three points do not advance, the Green Army thought of finally defending into one, suddenly a crisp whistle, three points foul!
Until Morris was provoked by Tucker's foul, the game was over, and it was the time when the Green Army needed to fight for three points, and Morris, who was the most accurate three-pointer, was expelled...
He alone dismembered the Celtics, the league's top defensive player, and now no one seems to be able to stop James Harden except his own physical fitness!
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