"It seems that both sides are protecting their best offensive players and guarding the opponent's worst offensive players. They also use their best defensive players to face the opponent's top offensive player. This game is interesting."
Yang Yi said.
Harden also observed the movements of his teammates. Ariza and Butler chose to intersperse from the bottom line, cross their positions, and come down in a wave, forcing the Nets to switch defenses.
Butler came to the other side and faced Deron.
Harden didn't hesitate, passed to Butler, ran to the side and took away the defender.
The Rockets cleared one side and gave it to Butler for singles. Facing Deron, who was a full 8 centimeters shorter than himself, Butler naturally accepted the mismatch opportunity.
After three threats, Deron accelerated and broke through smoothly. Deron reacted quickly and was not passed by, always blocking Butler.
But Butler relied on his height and strength advantages to get to the basket, jump forward after taking a step, and hit the board with his right hand for a layup.
2:0.
Butler successfully caught the mismatch and helped the team open the scoring.
"Good shot. Butler played the ball hard. In fact, hitting Deron is not a big mismatch. Deron is also very strong. The average small forward may not be able to hit it."
Yang Yi said.
Deron dribbled the ball to the top of the arc in the front court and observed the movements of his teammates. Joe Johnson was still unable to get rid of Ariza. The cross movement between him and Gerald Wallace made him fall into a larger encirclement.
Seeing that there were only 8 seconds left in the attack time, Deron decided to go it alone.
Deron starts dribbling, dribbling with his right hand to the left for the first time before changing direction, and at the same time taking a step back, which is somewhat similar to a drag step.
Butler quickly adjusted his center of gravity, turned sideways, and blocked Deron's left hand.
Seeing that Deron had changed Butler's defensive focus, he immediately made a second change of direction. The two changes of direction were extremely large, catching Butler off guard.
Even though he made up for Deron's signature double change of direction before the game, he was still not ready when he faced it.
Deron changed direction and returned to the right, but Butler stayed where he was. It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but that his body couldn't move.
Through dribbling rhythm, Deron successfully obtained shooting space, took off, and shot.
"Uh-huh!"
Hit a mid-range jumper.
2:2, Deron scored a response goal and returned the favor.
"Deron is great. Butler is already close to the top defender in the league, but he still can't interfere with Deron's shots at all."
Yu Jia said.
“Deron’s change of direction, firstly, controls the rhythm just right, and secondly, the change of direction is very large, and the large range misleads defensive players better, making it easier to pass the opponent and gain shooting space.
This is the great thing about Deron. If other players were to perform the same action, the rhythm and range would not be as good, and it would be easier to be defended. "
Yang Yi explained.
On the court, Harden dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and Gerald Wallace took every step without daring to neglect.
Ariza and Butler once again crossed paths, creating a mismatch opportunity for Butler to match up with Deron.
Compared with Joe Johnson, Deron is smaller in size and size, and Butler is easier to operate.
Butler received the ball at an angle of 45 degrees, turned around and played singles with his back facing the frame. The top turned and passed Deron, rushed to the basket to face the double blocker of Luo and Reggie Evans, and European-stepped past the left hand and hit the basket.
You can see Harden dancing at the top of the key, but you can learn the European step.
At 4:2, the Rockets' first two attacks were handed over to Butler for singles, which somewhat caught Carlesimo off guard.
His original defensive focus was entirely on Harden. In his opinion, Butler could also score, but it would not determine the outcome of the game.
Indeed, judging from the statistics and court performance, Butler averaged less than 20 points per game, was inconspicuous, and did not have many offensive plays on the court.
But this was Xu Xin's intention. He talked to Butler and asked him to hide his strength and bide his time in the Greedy Game, replenish his mental and physical strength, and save it to shine in the playoffs.
Butler was very satisfied with this, and the two hit it off.
In this way, it not only solves the problem of ball distribution within the team, but also leaves enough cards for themselves.
Until now, the management of all teams in the league, as well as the media and fans, all believe that Butler is a good star, but he is definitely not a superstar who can single-handedly affect the outcome of the game.
Only Xu Xin knows how fierce Butler can be at full strength.
When the Nets attacked, Deron was not to be outdone and was beaten twice by Butler in a row. He didn't want to lose face?
Deron came to the frontcourt with the ball by himself, with a firm look in his eyes. When he received the baseline ball from Da Luo, he decided that he would play this offense by himself.
At the top of the arc, Deron once again used his unique double change of direction. Even though Butler was on guard, he was still thrown off his center of gravity.
Deron came to the elbow area and hit another mid-range jumper.
4:4.
"Is it really that difficult to defend Deron, who has both directions?"
Yu Jia replaced the crude question. In fact, he knew the answer, but as a commentator, he needed to give the guest commentators a chance to express themselves.
"It's very big. The first time he changes direction, if you don't follow him, just wait for him to change back again. Then he will go directly to the left. So as a defensive player, you can only follow. And he changes direction the second time. , the interval in between is too short, the speed is fast, and the range is large, which really leaves the defender with few options.”
Yang Yi explained.
The Rockets offense is once again left to Butler to handle.
Butler changed his routine this time and no longer broke through to kill the basket, because he saw that Deron was afraid of his breakthrough and chose to let him go half a step away.
Butler smiled slightly when he saw this, and asked me to shoot, right? Then I'll show it to you.
Then after three threats, he made a dry shot.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net, 6:4.
"A good ball. This ball reflects Butler's solid basic skills. I will take whatever the defense gives me. This season, Butler has made significant progress in mid- and long-range shooting. It can be said that he can now attack without blind spots." ”
Yang Yi said, and it was not difficult to hear his appreciation for Butler from his tone.
Looking back, Deron hit another mid-range shot, 6:6, and the response was successful.
Butler was a little annoyed. He was looking for experience from repeated defensive failures. After three rounds, he still couldn't find a way to deal with Deron's double change of direction.
Xu Xin off the court could see clearly that Butler had actually made some progress.
From being frozen in place in the first round, to moving in the second round, to making a move to defend and interfere with shooting in the third round.
Butler is getting faster and faster under his feet, but the main problem is still in his upper body.
His short wingspan is the biggest reason why he can't interfere with Deron's shooting.
