The Godfather of Basketball

The Rockets' next opponent is the Warriors.

The day before the game, Sun Yue was recalled by the Rockets from the Development League and returned to the Toyota Center after an absence of more than a month.

Compared with the submissive look before, he looks much more mature and confident now.

After he came back, he didn't go to see Tang Tian immediately, but went to Cole for private training.

On the second day of the team's daily training, after the basic training was over, Tang Tian had a whim, like to see the abilities of Thibodeau and Cole, and asked them to select players for a team training match.

Thibodeau has been with Tang Tian for more than a year, but his coaching style is still defensive. Except for Yao Ming, he selected all the team's defensive players. Battier, Pietrus... Sun Yue was also selected by him. .

Cole is specially picking three-pointers, Tracy McGrady, Novak, Millsap, and Billups are all on his team.

The match started quickly, and Tang Tian watched from the sidelines.

Cole's side played fast, and Thibodeau's side was obviously overwhelmed.

Without those three-point shooters, Yao Ming was heavily double-teamed at the basket, and Sun Yue and Barea's three-pointers from the outside were all inaccurate.

This is also expected by Tang Tian. Cole's understanding of basketball is very advanced, and this fast-paced style of play is the future trend of the league.

However, in a one-sided game, Sun Yue played a lot of presence on the defensive end.

In the previous training, Sun Yue often missed people and lost positions, but at this time, no matter whether he was facing Novak or Billups, he was able to defend, and even covered McGrady when assisting defense.

It can be seen that he is indeed ready to play.

Before the game that night, Tang Tian put Sun Yue on the activation list.

The Warriors in turmoil have completely lost the momentum of last season's black eighth season. Although they are still fiercely bombarded, the team's offensive efficiency has dropped sharply.

Last season's Black Eight Warriors were not the Rockets' opponents at all. After the first quarter, the Rockets had a 31-16 lead by as much as 15 points.

The huge gap made Tang Tian bolder in employing people.

At the beginning of the second quarter, he replaced Sun Yue.

The Rockets lineup is Barea, Sun Yue, Novak, Scola and Marc Gasol.

The Warriors still retain Ellis in the starting lineup, and the other four are Azubuike, Marco Belinelli, Matt Barnes and veteran Chris Webber.

The Rockets' bench defense is a 3-2 zone defense, mainly defending the Warriors' outside three-pointers.

Ellis dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, played two pick-and-rolls with Barnes and Azubuike and failed to make a three-pointer. Seeing that his defender was replaced by Sun Yue, he chose without saying a word. breakthrough.

Ellis's speed is very fast, Scola under the basket came out to help defend, he directly changed direction and shot to the right, leaning on Sun Yue's low-handed layup.

Sun Yue jumped up to block the block, but Ellis made a layup in the air.

"Snapped!"

Sun Yue hit Alice's hand.

The referee blows his whistle, indicating that this is a thug foul.

Sun Yue put her hands on the back of her head.

"Don't attack lightly." Tang Tian stood up from the sidelines and reminded loudly.

This is not just Sun Yue's problem. Rookies like to block shots, and Ellis' personal ability is very strong, so he is easy to be cheated and fouled.

Sun Yue nodded after hearing Tang Tian's reminder.

Ellis made two free throws to help the Warriors continue to increase points.

The Rockets' offense, Barea and Gasol hit the pick-and-roll from the free throw line, and then went straight to the basket.

After seeing the Warriors' defense shrink, a ball was given to Sun Yue on the outside.

Sun Yue catches the ball and gestures for a three-point shot.

Belinelli on the side swooped in.

But at this moment, Sun Yue suddenly received the ball, and then threw the ball to Novak in the bottom corner.

Novak catches the ball open and shoots directly.

"Shua!"

Three points hit the net.

Tang Tian nodded. The ball was handled well. It seems that Sun Yue has indeed improved in the Development League.

Ellis took advantage of the Warriors' offense in the previous round. In this round, he directly asked Azubuike for a pick-and-roll. After switching to Sun Yue's defense, he directly signaled his teammates to pull away.

"Monta is ready to teach the newcomers a lesson." Brin in the commentary seat said.

"I hope this class won't last too long." Mark Jackson joked with a smile.

At this moment, Tang Tian's eyes were fixed on the field.

As the two commentators expressed, the NBA is a cruel place where the best basketball players in the world compete on this field, which means that everyone will seize every opportunity to express themselves and prove their worth.

Regardless of whether you are the No. 1 pick in the draft, a lottery pick or a second-round pick, or a day laborer, as long as your opponent finds that you have a clear advantage in the matchup, he will beat you to the end.

This is also the reason why Tang Tian didn't play Sun Yue before. It's okay to play once, but playing a few more times will really destroy the player's self-confidence.

Ellis veered, and veered.

Sun Yue's center of gravity began to waver.

Seizing the moment when Sun Yue's center of gravity was unstable, Ellis sped up with a "snap" and rushed directly to the basket from the right.

Sun Yue was wiped clean.

Gasol under the basket was blocked by Webber ahead of time, and Ellis had a wide view in front of him, so he directly chose to pick the basket.

But at this moment, a black shadow struck behind him.

Ellis received the ball, but the hand shadow above his head was still there.

He then changed hands and pulled the bar for a layup in the air.

The ball was too difficult, and the ball hit the backboard and was drawn from the other side.

The rebound was accepted by that hand.

Ellis turned his head, and then saw the owner of that figure, Sun Yue! That rookie!

"Oh, this rookie's movement speed and physical talent are quite good, Monta was careless." Jackson said.

"Yes, but to be honest, I'm not surprised. Since Tang Tian joined the Rockets, the Rockets' rookies have always brought surprises. It seems that this Chinese rookie named Sun is no exception." Brin said and looked To the Rockets bench.

Tang Tian also nodded in satisfaction at this time.

Sun Yue has indeed changed.

His ability has improved compared to before he went to the Development League, but the improvement is not so obvious. The obvious change is his attitude.

For the ball just now, Ellis actually shook him away. In fact, Ellis thought so too, but Sun Yue did not give up after being shaken away, but chased forward with all his strength. Let him catch up at the last moment.

Alice underestimated the enemy and was successfully interfered by Sun Yue.

"Damn it!" Alice also realized this, and punched him angrily.

But at this moment, Sun Yue raised his hand, slammed the ball long and straight to the frontcourt.

Barea just ran across the center line at this time.