The Godfather of Basketball

Back in the second half, the Hornets' offense, Daniels and Posey played a pick-and-roll, split the ball and distributed it to Posey, and Posey hit a three-pointer from the outside.

The addition of Posey has greatly improved the strength of the Hornets' weak bench.

In the Rockets' offense, Morrow and Jordan played a pick-and-roll, and shot a three-pointer directly with a gap outside the three-point line.

"Shua!"

With a crisp sound, Morrow's three-pointer rose and fell.

The Hornets attacked, Daniels passed Armstrong to the basket in seconds, and Yi Jianlian made accurate defensive judgments, but the confrontation was too disadvantageous, and the former directly hit the open basket and scored.

Looking back, it was Morrow, who used Jordan's solid body to pick and roll from the baseline, and Dragic passed the ball with his excellent sense of smell, and the latter caught the ball and made a three-pointer.

"Shua!"

The three-pointer was scored!

Morrow proved in summer league that he could score big, and after a hard offseason, he brought that ability to the preseason.

The Hornets' offense, Posey and Brown rushed to Yi Jianlian after the pick-and-roll, Yi Jianlian recovered the basket, and Posey missed the shot in the confrontation.

Yi Jianlian grabbed the rebound, the Rockets counterattacked, and Morrow's chasing three-pointer missed.

Armstrong turned around and prepared to receive the defensive rebound, but at this moment, Weaver rushed inside like lightning, soared into the air and grabbed the offensive rebound, turned around and gave the high-ranking Yi Jianlian, who directly shot a large two-pointer.

"Shua!"

Yi Jianlian's shot also entered!

The Hornets' offense, Posey's breakthrough was blocked by Jordan.

Looking back, Dragic advanced to the frontcourt and missed Weaver's three-pointer, but Jordan took off continuously and grabbed the ball between Armstrong and Brown, forcing Armstrong's thug foul.

After Jordan made two free throws, the Rockets' fringe players beat the Hornets 10-5 at the beginning of the second half!

The momentum on the court was even stronger than the rotation lineup in the first half!

And it's not just for a while. Throughout the second half, the Rockets played extremely aggressively, which was a completely different team from the first half.

When Tang Tian saw this, he didn't know where to start, but suddenly a bright light flashed in his mind.

Relying on the outstanding performance of marginal players in the second half, the Rockets finally reversed the Hornets 94 to 92 and won their first preseason victory.

Morrow scored a team-high 18 points, and Yi Jianlian and Weaver each scored 8 points.

As the preseason continued, an obvious change for the Rockets was that Tang Tian intentionally gave more playing time to fringe players who were active.

The Rockets' main rotation spirit is still not high, and the Rockets only played a record of 3 wins and 4 losses in the preseason, but the performance of marginal players is remarkable.

Morrow played 6 games and averaged 12.6 points per game. For an undrafted pick, this kind of performance is absolutely outstanding.

Weaver averaged 6.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. Although his talent is average, his active fighting is impressive.

Yi Jianlian averaged 9.3 points per game and shot 51% from the field. His offensive performance was very eye-catching, and it was more of a problem on the defensive end that limited him.

Dragic averaged 4.5 points and 3.4 assists per game. Although he didn't score much, his organizational skills are obvious to all.

The preseason came to an end, and the Rockets also made the final layoffs.

Marcus Campbell, D.J. Stroberg, Mike Harris, and Lucas III were cut without any suspense.

And the remaining old Barry, Hart and Weaver had to keep two of them. On the issue of who to keep, Tang Tian and Morey had a disagreement.

Tang Tian wants to keep Weaver, who is active, and Barry, who has experience in the playoffs.

Morey believes that Weaver does not have many opportunities to perform in the team, and tends to keep the old Barry and Hart who have guaranteed contracts.

"It doesn't matter if Barry or Hart stays, but Weaver must stay." Tang Tian's attitude was firm.

Morey is obviously a little unhappy. He also has his own considerations. He can make some deals in the middle of the season by keeping the expired contract.

However, Tang Tian's attitude was extremely firm, and he finally chose to lay off Hart, who was less effective.

As a result, the Rockets' roster for the new season will also be released.

Center: Yao Ming, Marc Gasol, DeAndre Jordan;

Power Forward: Scola, Landry, Yi Jianlian;

Small forwards: Battier, Brent Barry;

Shooting guards: McGrady, Pietrus, Anthony Morrow, Van Wever;

Point guard: Billups, Sun Yue, Dragic.

Just looking at the lineup on paper, this is not much weaker than last season, but after the preseason, anyone can feel that this team is in a sluggish state and its prospects are worrying.

"Don, you shouldn't be so resolute. After all, Darrell is the team's general manager." When he came out of the general manager's office, the team's deputy general manager Keith Jones reminded.

"No, it will be of great use to the team if I keep Weaver." Tang Tian shook his head and said, he chose to compromise on Barnes' matter at the beginning, but as a result, the team's small forward didn't have a reliable substitute, this time he won't .

"Great use... Well, I hope this won't affect your relationship." Jones said with a wry smile.

Tang Tian didn't explain anything further, leaving Weaver would indeed be of great use, and as long as the results were achieved, it didn't really matter what the relationship was.

The preseason is over, and the NBA regular season will also kick off.

Prior to this, the Rockets also ended their last training session.

However, unlike before, Tang Tian didn't directly let the team members go to rest, but called everyone together and stood in two rows in front of him.

"The preseason is over, how do you think the team is doing?" Tang Tian had no obvious expression on his face when he spoke.

"Not good." Yao Ming answered directly, he has always been a strong player.

"Hey, Yao, take it easy, it's just a preseason game." McGrady comforted him.

"No, we didn't play well." Yao Ming shook his head.

"Our rookies this year have performed very well, which will make our games easier in the new season." McGrady continued.

"Yes, coach, the preseason is mainly to discover new players. I think we will win more games than last season." Pietrus echoed.

The other players nodded. The preseason performances of Morrow, Dragic, Weaver and Yi Jianlian were indeed remarkable.

"Is there anyone else who wants to talk?" Tang Tian continued to ask, but there was still no change in expression on his face.

The team members looked at each other in blank dismay, but did not speak again.

"Oops, it can't be a worse match!" Tang Tian said suddenly and seriously at this moment.

Many players looked up at him in surprise.

"With two championships, do you think you are invincible? Do you think you can win no matter what you fight? Or in your heart, championships are no longer so important?" At the beginning of the training period, the performance of this team made him very unhappy, and now it has accumulated to a point of explosion.

"Shame!" Seeing that the team members were still silent, Tang Tian said bluntly.

"I used to be proud of you, not because of how talented you are, but because you will do your best no matter what difficulties you face. When others question you, you respond with actions and slap those people in the face hard , but now, look at yourselves."

"With a maximum salary contract, do you feel that you can always be the core of the team? Last year's playoffs, when you performed well, you feel that you are in the rotation lineup? Or do you just want to get a championship ring at all?" Tang Tian said Not at all polite.

After hearing this, McGrady, Pietrus and Old Barry all felt a burning pain on their faces. Although Tang Tian didn't call them by their names directly, as long as they understood a little bit, they would know who they were talking about.