"The core of the Nets is still Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. The pick-and-roll between the two and Lopez's low singles are our biggest challenges on the defensive end."
Xu Xin said.
"Um."
McHale nodded, thought for a moment and said:
"We really don't seem to have a player that matches Deron at the point guard position."
He just quickly evaluated the possibilities of the team's three guards, Jeremy Lin, Iverson and Beverley.
Iverson was the first to be eliminated. Whether it was height, weight or age, Iverson suffered a big disadvantage.
Plus he had just come back, and McHale couldn't let him take risks.
Jeremy Lin, as the team's starting point guard, has made great progress on both the offensive and defensive ends this season. Compared with this point in his previous life, he is much better.
But his biggest weakness is that he has no way to deal with heavy point guards and is completely at a disadvantage.
This was the case when facing Lowry this season, he was bullied so much.
Beverley is the strongest defensive player among the three, and he was the one McHale was thinking about the most just now.
But considering his height of 1.85cm, he is 8cm shorter than Deron Williams, and the weight difference is nearly 20kg.
As Deron Williams gets older, his style of play has shifted from explosive speed to physical style. Beverley will probably not get any advantage when meeting him.
"How about letting Jimmy take charge of defense?"
Xu Xin said.
"This works."
McHale's eyes lit up. Butler has a standard small forward size and is more than enough to defend Deron Williams. He definitely doesn't suffer in terms of speed, and he has a considerable advantage in physical confrontation.
Xu Xin smiled knowingly. He was inspired by the Lakers' use of "Vanderbilt" Vanderbilt to defend Doncic.
"But if Butler faces Deron, who will Jeremy face?"
McHale quickly discovered a new problem and said with a wry smile.
Xu Xingyan lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up at McHale and said:
"Then we can only wrong him and remove him from the starting lineup."
"Trevor (Ariza) starting?"
McHale asked.
"That's right! Trevor is the most suitable candidate. On the offensive end, he can ensure the team's outside shooting level without compressing the space. On the defensive end, he is good enough in both single defense and supplementary defense. Let him match the Nets' other perimeter shooter. Using Joe Johnson and James (Harden) to face Gerald Wallace, who has the weakest offensive ability, is the best plan."
Xu Xin explained.
"It's feasible. James (Harden) just needs to shrink his defense and not give Gerald Wallace a chance to cut. He can shoot as he pleases from the outside."
McHale smiled and said that he likes to exchange views on the game with Xu Xin before the game. Many of Xu Xin's insights are full of wisdom.
"Brooke Lopez is difficult to deal with. We can only ask Omir (Asik) to try his best to prevent him from turning to the baseline and force him to turn upward. In this way, the weak side is facing Gerald Wallace. Harden can come over to help defend against the attack, and even if he can't complete the steal, he can at least disrupt his offensive rhythm."
Xu Xin continued.
McHale nodded repeatedly. This defensive strategy was excellent.
"As for the pick-and-roll between the two, I haven't thought of any good method for the time being. I can only decide the defensive method based on Deron's touch on the spot."
Xu Xin said helplessly.
Deron has performed very well in shooting this season. Not only is his mid-range performance stable, but his three-point shooting is equally accurate. His average three-point shooting rate this season has reached 38%, which is already a quasi-elite level.
Deron's accurate shooting makes the pick-and-roll tactics between him and Lopez even more difficult to defend.
The lights were on at night, and the exterior of Houston's home arena was very beautiful against the lights. An hour before the game started, many fans had already arrived at the stadium early to wait.
This game is a strong dialogue. Both sides have so many stars in their respective teams that they can't be counted on one hand.
Rockets owner Alexander will naturally seize such an opportunity and raise the price of game tickets to more than double the usual price.
Even so, many Rockets fans are willing to pay for it.
Seeing this made Xu Xin feel a toothache. This is completely a dishonorable approach. If it is the playoffs, there is nothing wrong with the increase in ticket prices, but in the end this is just a regular season game.
The Rockets had never raised prices on the spot during the regular season before. At the beginning of the season, they did not raise prices when facing a defending champion like the Heat. As the team's record improved and there were more stars, the prices increased. Once the price went up, it tripled. It's really unreasonable.
Invisibly, Xu Xin's idea of acquiring the Rockets was strengthened.
Soon, the stadium was filled with spectators, and it was still more than half an hour before the game started.
There are so many stars gathered here, and they certainly don’t want to miss the warm-up session of the stars. It is also a different kind of experience to catch a glimpse of the stars.
"I have never experienced being warmed up by so many spectators."
After Jeremy Lin scored a goal, he turned around and said to Harden next to him.
"Who says it isn't? It feels a bit strange."
Harden chuckled.
"We are not used to it, and the other side is even less used to it."
Butler came over and said seriously.
"You have a heavy task tonight, come on."
Jeremy Lin said to Butler.
"Yeah, come on."
Butler nodded vigorously.
In the preparation meeting before the game, McHale arranged in public for Butler to face Deron, the same as above, and Butler would play as long as Deron played.
To this end, Butler watched an hour of Deron's game videos and conducted a certain amount of research on his usual offensive methods, breakthrough directions, and offensive starting styles.
If he wasn't pressed for time, he could have watched it all day.
Butler was right about one thing. This was the first time for the Nets team to warm up in front of so many spectators. Everyone was not used to it.
The shots in the first two minutes were almost all shot, and the basket was about to be smashed before the game even started.
Fortunately, they are all professional players, and their psychological quality is very comparable to others. They quickly adjusted and their accuracy improved.
The country attaches great importance to this star PK game and specially broadcasts it live. Many people jokingly call it a Little All-Star Game.
It sounds a bit outrageous at first, but take a closer look at the lineups of both sides. Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, these are all There are veteran All-Stars and this year's two new All-Stars, James Harden and Brook Lopez. In this game, there are 7 All-Stars who can play.
It's a pity that Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady can't play. If 9 All-Stars compete on the same field, it will definitely be an unprecedented event.
