The Godfather of Basketball

The NBA preseason game started first. The Rockets ushered in the first game of the preseason game on the first day. Their opponent was the Spurs.

The Spurs are still the "GDP" Big Three plus a bunch of veterans. Although the average age of the Rockets' old opponent is a bit older, the overall strength should not be underestimated.

After the two sides completed the warm-up before the game, the starting lineups appeared one after another.

For the Rockets, apart from Billups taking a break, the other four are regular season starters. Sun Yue and McGrady are on the outside, Pietrus and Scola are on the front line, and Yao Ming is the center.

On the Spurs side, Bo Povich didn't push himself up as much as last year, and he also started all games.

Parker and Roger Mason on the outside, Finley and Duncan on the front line, and Oberto on the inside.

With a whistle from the sidelines, the game officially started.

Yao Ming gave the Rockets the opportunity to attack first.

Sun Yue took the ball to the frontcourt and handed the ball to Yao Ming, and the Rockets began to play infinite cut tactics.

Yao Ming sent a second pass, McGrady made an air cut and got an easy layup.

But I don't know if he hasn't adjusted from the offseason, and he didn't make progress in a near empty opportunity.

Duncan turned around and received a defensive rebound.

Parker advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, and after signaling Bonner to empty the basket, he directly handed the ball to Duncan in the low post.

Duncan hit Scola with his back, and his tough confrontation to the basket caused the latter's thug foul.

With two free throws, the Spurs took the lead.

The Rockets' offense, Sun Yue returned the ball to Yao Ming after halftime, Yao Ming passed it to Pietrus, and Pietrus made a three-pointer from the bottom corner.

"boom!"

Pietrus's three-pointer was obviously short and hit the frame.

The rebound was accepted by Oberto.

In the Spurs' offense, Parker took the ball to the frontcourt, played a pick-and-roll with Duncan, and after breaking the ball, he made a breakthrough emergency stop throw.

Pietrus' reaction was obviously much slower, and he slapped Parker's hand.

"Shua!"

"beep!"

Parker scored a throw and also caused a foul by Pietrus.

There was an uproar at the scene.

Tang Tian frowned at this time, stood up and signaled the team to play more inside.

Parker made a steady hit and added a penalty, and the Spurs started 5-0.

Sun Yue took the ball to the front court and handed it to Yao Ming. Scola pulled up to the high position at this time. Yao Ming saw that West was pulled out, so he turned around and hit Oberto.

With a beautiful turn, Yao Ming easily shook Oberto and scored with a hook.

The Rockets finally broke the scoring drought.

But looking back, Parker was sure that Scola's defense was insufficient, and after picking and rolling with Duncan, he accelerated his breakthrough and scored a layup.

When the Rockets attacked, McGrady made a breakthrough and made a mistake. Finley gave the ball to Mason immediately after stealing the ball. Mason hit the frontcourt with a one-handed dunk.

That's not to mention, Pietrus's dunk after receiving the ball on the offensive end went away.

12 to 2, the Rockets were directly stunned.

Tang Tian got up at this moment and called a timeout.

What he was worried about, still happened.

In the long history of the NBA, there are many strong teams, but perhaps only the Celtics, Bulls, and Lakers can be called a dynasty. The Spurs are not in this ranks. The reason is that they want to complete the dynasty in the NBA. The team's basic requirements for three consecutive championships are too difficult.

Regardless of uncontrollable factors such as injuries and luck, team turmoil, aging, and lineup maintenance are all headaches.

Because of Tang Tian's presence, the Rockets perfectly avoided these problems.

But in addition to these problems, there is an equally fatal factor: heart qi.

"Mr. Key" Robert Horry, who won the championship with three different teams and won 6 championship rings, once said in an interview that he had seen too many teammates lose heart after winning the championship. In the end, the team also because of this In the end, he failed to defend the title.

Take Maddie for example.

money? There are still 2 years of maximum salary;

champion? Has won two consecutive championships;

Personal honors: First team last year, finals FMVP.

He has already achieved all the goals pursued by others, and for him, there is no motivation worth fighting for.

A glance at the bench shows that this problem is not just one or two people, but a common phenomenon.

"Others open up more space on the offensive end. Yao, you play more around the basket. On the defensive end, Pietrus pays attention to double-teaming West." Tang Tian withdrew his thoughts and adjusted his tactics directly after the players left the field.

Back from the timeout, the Rockets made tactical adjustments, significantly increasing Yao Ming's personal offensive ratio.

The effect of this adjustment is obvious.

The national team's games and hard training during the offseason have allowed Yao Ming to maintain an excellent state. Instead of declining due to age, he feels like he has reached the peak.

The main players of the two sides played halftime. Yao Ming scored 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. His state was amazing.

But except for Yao Ming, everyone else seemed to be out of shape. They hit the iron frequently and made mistakes again and again. At the end of the half, the Rockets were still behind by as much as 6 points.

In the second half, both sides began to put on substitutes to inspect new players, and practice new tactics along the way.

But in this period of time, the Rockets, who had always been dominant in the past, were astonishing. They felt cold and defended all kinds of misplaced positions.

In the end, the Rockets lost the preseason opener 91-101.

Barry Sr. made 1 of 4 shots, Hart made 0 of 4 shots, Pietrus 1 of 7 shots, and Gasol Jr. made 1 of 6 shots. The problem of the Rockets' bench group seems to be bigger than the main force.

After the game, Tang Tian held an interim meeting of the coaching staff to discuss the status of the players.

Because it was only the first game, he didn't make much fanfare. In the end, he just asked Thibodeau and Cole to find the players to do work in private, and order a little first.

After two days of rest, the Rockets ushered in the second game of the preseason against the Hornets.

The Hornets were eliminated by the Rockets in the playoffs last season, and even the preseason is holding back their energy.

The status of the Rockets players is still not adjusted.

McGrady's dunk and dunk, Pietrus' three-pointer and three-pointer, Gasol's layup over the bridge...

At halftime, the Rockets trailed the Hornets by a full 10 points 47 to 57.

"Don, it seems that this problem is much bigger than we thought." Thibodeau said helplessly when returning to the locker room at halftime.

Tang Tian didn't say anything, he had never encountered such a situation, but it also showed that this kind of problem could not be solved with just a few words.

Back in the second half, both sides withdrew their main players.

For the Hornets, Posey, Devon Brown, Julian White, Armstrong, and Antonio Daniels started.

For the Rockets, Dragic, Weaver, Morrow, Yi Jianlian and Jordan, who didn't play in the previous game, also started.

"With the current state of the Rockets, they are likely to suffer a two-game losing streak in the preseason." Home commentator Daniel Gorman said.

"Yes, it seems that the Rockets are in big trouble for the new season." Thunderbolt Miller nodded. Although the preseason game is irrelevant, no championship team in history has started this way.