Legendary star

Chapter 19 Embarrassed Meng Xu

Although Francis is only a rookie this year, the head coach of the Rockets specially set up several sets of offensive tactics for him, but these tactics are also some simple and easy-to-use tactics, such as the pick-and-roll cooperation between Francis and Barkley, and the Austrian team. Rajuwon's pick-and-roll coordination, and Francis' tactics of breaking through and scoring the ball, Francis wants to beat Meng Xu on both offense and defense in today's game, so these tactics that need to cooperate with his teammates are no longer within the scope of his consideration Inside, my offensive method today can only be singles against Meng Xu, or breakthroughs or shots. Not only must I blow him up on the offensive end, but I must also repair him on the defensive end, so that he will know that he is the ACC's steal king. The first team with the best defensive lineup is not given in vain.Fortunately, Francis got through with Olajuwon and Barkley before the game, and the two big shots of the Rockets also supported him very much.

"I'm just a rookie. Why would I be nervous? I wasn't nervous when I played against Stockton yesterday." Francis' heartbeat accelerated instantly as he saw Meng Xu approaching him.

Facing Meng Xu, who was taller than him by a bit, and with that super long wingspan, Francis gave up his plan to shoot a jump shot in front of Meng Xu, but was going to choose to break through and get rid of him, only to let Francis Somewhat unexpectedly, no matter where he was going to rush, Meng Xu was able to block the direction of his breakthrough in advance, and stuck to him tightly. Fortunately, although Meng Xu looked much bigger than himself, in terms of strength But not much stronger, only then can I barely support myself, and won't be squeezed out of place by Meng Xu.

Francis took the ball and dribbled the ball horizontally outside the 3-point line for a walk, but he couldn't find a chance to break through Meng Xu. Seeing that 24 seconds were approaching, he had to make a hasty shot and shot a 3-pointer. The basketball was snatched by Duncan. At this time A strange scene appeared. Duncan, who grabbed the basketball, could have made a long pass to the backcourt and launched a fast break, but Duncan did not do so. Perhaps this tactic was specially arranged by Popovich. Duncan was waiting until Olajuwon After retreating with Barkley, they passed the ball to point guard Avery Johnson. The Spurs still had to fight the Rockets and fight for consumption.Although the average age of the Spurs' main players is already at the forefront of the league, it is clear that the average age of the Rockets is older, especially Olajuwon and Barkley, both of whom are 72 years old together.

Since it is not clear whether Francis has the talent to control the ball, Meng Xu did not rush to steal Francis in this round of defense. According to Popovich, Meng Xu's steal belongs to Gambling steals, once the steal fails, you will immediately lose your defensive position. After the game against the 76ers, Popovich criticized Meng Xu's defensive choice.What Popovich didn't know was that Meng Xu had the ability to have a sixth sense. Anyone who could clearly see the opponent's dribble trajectory couldn't control the urge to reach out for a hand.Fortunately, under the pressure of system tasks this time, Meng Xu was still very cautious, and kept telling himself in his heart not to reach out, not to reach out.

After Johnson slowly dribbled the ball across the half court, after seeing all the Rockets' players return to their positions, he made a seemingly sudden movement, but passed the basketball to Meng, who was within the 45-degree 3-point line on the left. Xu, Meng Xu was a little embarrassed after holding the ball. Whether it was his breakthrough or shooting ability, he was a little low, but seeing his teammates stretched away and waiting for him to play singles, Meng Xu could only bite the bullet, but Looking at Francis who was defending him, Meng Xu was also a little inexplicably excited.

"This guy is really too short." Meng Xu, who is 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 220, only needs to jump lightly and lean back slightly when facing the defense of Francis, who is 191 tall, and throws the basketball. Jordan's fadeaway jumper is basically imitated by young players in this era, and Meng Xu is also one of them, but Meng Xu's jumping, staying in the air and body balance are very different from Jordan's. Not to mention drawing or something, Meng Xu's weak jumping ability, combined with his apparently stiff body, is as ugly as it is ugly. Fortunately, his wingspan is long enough. , Francis can only look at the ball and sigh.

"Meng's shooting is really bad. Should we do some targeted training for him?" Seeing Meng Xu in the same position, facing the same defender, and in the same posture, after hitting the iron three times in a row, The Spurs' assistant coach Mike Budenholzer really couldn't stand it anymore.

"We don't need his offense yet, but let him shoot 3-pointers again and again." Seeing Meng Xu's embarrassment on the court, Popovich, who has always been serious, is also happy. How good is Meng Xu's defense? , how bad his offense is.Before the start of the game, Popovich also specifically approached Johnson, asking him to feed Meng Xu a few more balls, so that Meng Xu could collect some statistics and overwhelm Francis on the opposite side, but now Popovich saw David After Robinson's eyes clearly showed dissatisfaction, he also yelled at Johnson, signaling him not to pass the ball to Meng Xu for the time being.

After Meng Xu noticed David Robinson's unfriendly eyes on the field, he was also embarrassed. Facing a defender like Francis, he actually made 3 of 0 shots. Francis was still very hard-working in the first two defenses. Going forward and hitting the man made Meng Xu very uncomfortable. He didn't even dare to break through with the ball, for fear of being cut off by Francis. He had no choice but to jump up and shoot from the spot. After hitting the iron twice in a row, Francis looked at him It was a bit of a mockery. When Meng Xu attacked for the third time, Francis was not so active in defense. After Meng Xu threw the ball, Francis only stretched out his hand symbolically. It was a great shame.

Seeing the scene in front of her, the little Loriana in the system space was also laughing, and even told Meng Xu a joke, saying that in the next century, there will be a guard who can do everything except shooting. When he hits him, he will take the initiative to let him shoot, and what's more, he will even let him go directly. The defender will stand two meters away from him, watch him shoot, and then hit the iron.

Fortunately, although Meng Xu couldn't score points, Francis was not much better. After being defended by Meng Xu for 24 seconds, Francis gave up his behavior of wanting to single-handedly beat Meng Xu and started calling his teammates for pick-and-rolls.

Just after 9 minutes in the first quarter, the two sides replaced all the main players, and Meng Xu, who was dripping with sweat, sat down on the bench panting heavily.

"Meng, how do you feel?" Popovich asked, patting Meng Xu on the shoulder.

"I'm fine." Meng Xu took the towel handed over by the assistant coach and covered his head.In the first quarter, Meng Xu made 4 of 1 shots and only scored 2 points through the fast break after the steal. Since he put all his energy on Francis, Meng Xu's statistics were only 2 points, 1 steal and 1 rebound.The only thing that comforts Meng Xu is that although Francis has sent 3 assists, he has not scored so far.

"The defense of the two teams is really good, but I think Mr. Stern and the audience friends must hate this kind of game." After the first quarter of the game, Kenny Smith joked in the commentary. In the NBA, there has always been a saying that defense wins the championship, and offense wins the audience and box office. In order to promote the NBA to the world and attract more audiences, David Stern is also constantly revising the rules, restricting inside players and supporting outside players. , hoping to play a more beautiful game, the defensive battle between the Spurs and the Rockets is definitely against the trend of the times, and it must be a heresy in the eyes of David Stern and the audience.

In this 12-minute defensive competition, the final score was 17 to 15, and the Spurs led the Rockets by 2 points.

(End of this chapter)