Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 35 The Giant Yao

After reaching an agreement with Su Xi, Anthony was still not at ease. He approached Andrews to sign a written contract directly the next day. Then he was relieved and his worries were resolved. He and his teammates got on the plane to Houston.

The Houston Rockets, one of the top three in Texas, in the 90s, the all-star center "Dream" Olajuwon led the team to win two NBA championships, strong strength, 2001 was the weakest time of the team, but In 2002, after the team selected Yao Ming, the "successor of the big dream" from the other side of the ocean, the team's strength showed signs of recovery.

Because of Yao Ming's joining, the Rockets have naturally become a well-known NBA team in China. Until Yao Ming's retirement, the number of broadcast games and ratings in China kept leading all the year round. He is not regarded as the home team of the Chinese. Not too much.

Anthony was a Chinese before crossing, so he knew Yao Ming and his Rockets well. The Rockets in 03, the core structure of the team was "Privilege" Steve Francis, "Old Cat" Cardinal Moore. Bree and the "little giant" Yao Ming, supplemented by strong players such as Cato and Jackson, their strength is also at the playoff level in the West.

Against the Rockets, Bzdelik did not take it lightly because he won the Spurs. After the training session, he still conducted detailed video analysis and tactical arrangements.

After a day of intense preparations, on the night of October 10, the Nuggets played away at the Toyota Center in Houston to challenge the Rockets.

The commentators for this game are Rockets star "Glider" Clyde Drexler and his partner Bill Varel. When the players were still warming up, they couldn't help but start commenting on the game.

"Clyde, you used to be a player of the Rockets. Who do you think has a better chance of winning this game?" Varel knew that the "Glider" was the Rockets' champion, so this kind of question can be regarded as an introduction.

"I think the probability of the Rockets winning is higher." Drexler said without hesitation.

"Oh? Why is Clyde so sure? You must know that the Nuggets defeated the defending champion in the opening game, although there was a lot of luck in the game." Varel said shrewdly. Character is revealed.

"Bill, you have said that the Nuggets' win over the Spurs has a lot of luck in it. I think the Spurs are a little underestimated. They actually let Melo, a rookie, score 45 points in his debut. 45 points Ah, I really don't know if Bowen fell asleep, this is the most humiliating fight in his career!" Drexler said a little angrily.

"Indeed, in my impression, Bowen rarely has such a bad defense. Although Melo performed well in the NCAA, the confrontation between the NBA and the NCAA is obviously not at the same level. I think Bowen is either a match I must have gone too far at the nightclub the night before yesterday..." Varel said with a big laugh.

"Haha, anyway, I believe that the Rockets will not make the mistakes that the Spurs made, and this team has become more and more formed after the run-in of last season, and it has won all six games in the preseason. This game is the opening game, and these guys will definitely go all out to win the game!" Drexler said confidently.

"beep!"

As soon as Drexler finished speaking, the referee blew the whistle to start the game, and the fans on the scene let out a deafening shout. Since Yao Ming took over Houston, his "Shanghai Dance" made the fans fantasize about another " The Birth of the Big Dream.

Anthony finally met Yao Ming when he was warming up before the game. At this time, Yao Ming was much younger than what he saw in the video and the media, and his body was like a thin bamboo pole. What remained unchanged was That standard Chinese character face reminded him of the "囧" series of emoticons that became popular on the Internet afterwards.

The Rockets' starting lineup and predictions have not changed. In addition to the trident, the starting power forwards are the famous bodyguard Kevin Cato in Yao Ming's career and the former All-Star player Jim Jackson. He is over 33 years old, but has rich defensive experience and is also an arrow figure in the Rockets' defense.

The game started, facing the little giant, Camby, the long-span man, was still a bit inferior, and the Rockets won the right to attack in the first round.

The Nuggets retreated quickly, man-to-man and standing in a defensive position.

Jeff Van Gundy is a coach with many years of NBA coaching experience. His offensive tactics are basically centered around the center. Whether it is Ewing in the Knicks period or Yao Ming in the Rockets, it is precisely because of this that Yao Ming was able to become an NBA player One of the famous center forwards in history.

In the Rockets' first attack, after the other players moved to pull away the defenders, Yao Ming was in a position, and Francis knocked the ball to Yao Ming with one hit.

Yao Ming is defended by Camby. He has played against Yao Ming many times in the last season. He can be said to be very afraid of Yao Ming. The latter is 2.26m tall, not only half a head taller than him, but also relies heavily on the "Shanghai Dance" It is even more unpredictable.

After Yao Ming held the ball, he observed the running positions of his teammates around him. After seeing that no one from the Nuggets came up to defend, he relied on Camby who was defending behind him.

Camby controlled the center of gravity and firmly resisted Yao Ming so as not to lose his defensive position.

After all, Yao Ming's body is still a little thinner now, and he was not impressed by hitting Camby once, but he turned around immediately and used his body to find a shooting space with a big stride.

Camby saw Yao Ming's footsteps moving, and quickly stretched out his big hand to block his attacking route.

Yao Ming sensed the change of Camby's center of gravity, and then turned right with his right foot as the pivot, pretending to make a layup, and after cheating Camby to block the shot with his right hand, he turned left again.

Camby is worthy of being a player in the NBA who is good at blocking shots. When he lost his center of gravity, he forced to pull back most of his body, stretched out his left hand and continued to block Yao Ming.

But at this moment, Yao Ming turned right again with unimaginable footsteps, completely throwing Camby behind him, leaving a depressed Camby, who could only watch Yao Ming hit the board and score.

Anthony defends Jackson near the three-point line. Although the latter is a small forward, he takes nearly five three-pointers per game and has a higher shooting percentage than Leonard. Anthony dare not easily defend. At this moment, he could only watch Yao Ming playing with Camby and score easily, and he could only feel in his heart Yao Ming's great deterrence in the paint.

This is still the case now, but one can imagine what a bug Yao Ming was at his peak.

"Come on, Yao Ming!..."

A few Chinese shouts suddenly sounded at the scene. Anthony looked up and found many Chinese shouting hoarsely holding Yao Ming's head over there. As Houston is an aerospace city, the number of Chinese fans will naturally not be small, but it is a pity that he is now It's Carmelo Anthony, who can't enjoy the unique shouting that belongs to the Chinese.

"Haha, Yao Ming's footsteps reminded me of Hakim back then. Fantastic footsteps, this Yao Ming really has a bright future!" Seeing Yao Ming's easy scoring, Drexker praised without hesitation.

"That's right, the No. 0 pick who scored [-] points in his rookie season last year has grown so fast in just one season. The little giant's ability to learn is really strong!" Varel echoed.

"Melo, don't look!"

At this moment, Miller dribbled the ball and pushed past Anthony, calling him out of his daze. Anthony echoed and hurried to the frontcourt.

Anthony ran to the frontcourt and just settled down. Before he got a good position, he suddenly found that the Rockets' defensive formation was a bit strange. tactics.

Miller saw that Anthony was in a good position, and passed the ball to Anthony with a direct pass.

As soon as the ball arrived, the Rockets' defensive formation changed. Francis, who was defending Miller, suddenly began to recover. Before Anthony caught the ball, the double-team was formed.

When Anthony saw Francis rushing over, he could only flick the ball back to Miller with a big hand.

Without Francis' defense, Miller is unguarded outside the three-point line at this time, but he is a point guard who basically has no three-pointers. After receiving the ball, although his eyes are empty, he hesitates. shot.

When Anthony saw Miller's actions, he immediately screamed that it was terrible. The Rockets seemed to have analyzed the Nuggets very thoroughly. Although Miller was very good at controlling the rhythm and attacking opponents in the low post, his three-pointer was a big weakness. Because of this, Francesy dared to double-team so recklessly.

Van Gundy is good at defense in the NBA. Although he only joined the Rockets in June this year, this simple defense is like hitting a snake seven inches, which is very deadly.

"Miller, vote!"

Anthony knew that if Miller didn't shoot, it would only make the Rockets more unscrupulous.

Miller hesitated for a moment, seeing that Francis had no intention of retreating, aimed at the basket, jumped up and shot a three-pointer.

The ball spins and shoots straight toward the hoop.

The Nuggets and Rockets players couldn't help but raise their heads.

Yao Ming and Camby under the basket kept making physical contact to get in position.

"Dangdang!"

With a crisp sound, Miller threw the ball with sufficient strength, but the angle was still a bit off. The bounced ball was caught by Yao Ming, who was a lot taller.

Miller shook his hand in frustration, but he didn't feel too upset. Seeing that the rebound was under Yao Ming's hands, he retreated quickly and urged his teammates to catch up with the defender.

Anthony was not surprised to see that Miller didn't make a shot, but if he didn't make a shot with such a wide open, the next time this happens, the Rockets will double-team other players even more fiercely.

Fortunately, the Nuggets retreated in time, and the Rockets did not use the backcourt rebounds to counterattack.

But looking back, Yao Ming hit Camby again with the same tactic, scoring the goal and causing Camby to foul at the same time.

Camby didn't react much, but shook his head in frustration, while Nene gritted his teeth angrily, wishing he could go up and do it alone with Yao Ming.

In the opening minute, Yao Ming succeeded in singles in both of the Rockets' offenses, which put a lot of pressure on the Nuggets' inside defense. At this moment, Yao Ming walked to the free throw line, and the fans sang in unison.

"Yao Ming is deadly, Yao Ming is deadly..."

The neat melody reverberated in the Toyota Center Arena, indescribably soul-stirring.

Anthony stood on the edge of the three-second zone and waited for Yao Ming to come to make a free throw. Hearing the singing, he looked up at the sea of ​​red Rocket fans.

Yao Zhige...

(End of this chapter)