NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 171 Hawks' No.1 Defender on the Outside

China Sports Channel Studio.

Yu Jia adjusted his glasses and sat up straight: "Hello, viewers in front of the TV. Welcome to the NBA regular season game between the Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks. I am your host, Yu Jia, and my commentator today is Mr. Su Qun."

"Hello, Professor Su. This game has attracted a lot of attention. What do you think the Hawks need to do to win against the Rockets in a back-to-back game?" Yu Jia asked.

Su Qun adjusted his glasses and answered slowly and deliberately: "If Harden doesn't play in this game, the focus of defending the Rockets will be Howard in the paint. The Hawks need to limit Howard's scoring in the paint as much as possible. If he can't score a lot, the defensive pressure will be much less. Also, we need to limit the Rockets' three-point shooting! The Rockets are a typical 'Moreyball' team; they take a lot of three-pointers every game. We can't give them open looks easily. If we grab good rebounds, we'll have opportunities."

"Jeremy Lin might be matched up against Jia Fei in this game. Mr. Su, how do you think the Rockets should defend against Jia Fei?" Yu Jia continued to ask.

Su Qun said, "Just play normal defense. Try not to double-team too much. All five Hawks players can shoot three-pointers. The ball moves very quickly. If you double-team rashly, there will be a lot of open shots."

The starting players from both sides have entered the field, and the match is about to begin.

Jia Fei noticed that there were many Asian fans at the Toyota Center, and it was clear that there were significantly more Asian fans in Houston than in Atlanta.

Howard was all smiles, grinning and joking, as innocent as a child. He rarely smiled during his time with the Lakers; the "Happy Beast" had become a "Depressed Beast." He was unhappy there, and after being swayed by Hakeem Olajuwon and Daryl Morey, he abandoned the aging Dwight Howard and came to Houston to join the young and charismatic Morey. Clearly, he wanted to replicate Olajuwon's success with the team. As the number one draft pick, he hadn't yet won a championship, and he didn't want to be a journeyman in the league; he wanted stability.

At the start of the jump ball, Horford's jumping ability was completely outmatched by Howard's. Howard had a muscular physique but slender calves, a typical inverted triangle body shape, which was symmetrical to Yao Ming.

The Rockets gained possession on their first possession, and Beverley dribbled the ball across half-court.

Beverley gestured and directed traffic at the top of the key, but Jia Fei realized that he didn't actually have any tactical guidance. In fact, not to mention him, even the head coach of this team, Refrigerator, only knew how to make random plays. Do you expect a crazy guard to transform into the "God of Houston Point Guards" and play like the 58ers in Los Angeles?

Howard relentlessly posted up, and with Harden out, he became the team's primary offensive option.

Beverley lobbed the ball over, but his lob was a bit off in height and Horford swatted it away!

Jia Fei reacted with lightning speed, bending down and extending his long arm to intercept the ball! He immediately launched a counter-attack!

The Rockets' defensive transition was relatively quick, but their positioning was somewhat problematic. Jia Fei delivered a bounce pass to Carroll on the right wing!

Carroll received the ball and made an open layup, giving the Hawks the first points!

Howard hasn't come back from the backcourt yet; he's still sulking. What's wrong with Beverley? He can't even pass the ball properly!

But in reality, Beverley is not a very qualified point guard. His selling point is defense, a kind of mad dog defense. If he were an excellent backcourt commander, would he still be wandering around?

Beverley dribbled the ball over and continued directing traffic.

Jeremy Lin came out to receive the ball, and Beverley passed it directly to Parsons.

Carroll is guarding Parsons. Parsons and Jones, known for his ability to beat weaker opponents, run a pick-and-roll, and Parsons drives hard to the basket, switching onto Mills, but misses the layup!

However, Howard grabbed the offensive rebound and scored, tying the game at 2-2! With the Hawks' interior height and rim protection, it would be difficult to stop him once he got the offensive rebound in that position.

Teague dribbles the ball into the half-court.

Parsons was guarding Jia Fei.

The matchup between two of the NBA's most handsome players in Houston was a feast for the eyes of the female fans in attendance. While the NBA is full of hunks, truly good-looking players are few and far between; players like JaVale Parsons are practically the pinnacle of the league in terms of looks.

But basketball isn't a beauty pageant. Being handsome is useless if you play terribly. Darko Milicic, the former bust and second overall pick, was also very handsome, but it didn't help him survive in the league.

The Hawks continued to share the ball, passing it from Horford to Carroll in the corner, and then Carroll passed it to Jia Fei on the weak side!

Jia Fei bounced the ball to Milwaukee under the basket, but Milwaukee's attack on the rim was interfered with by Howard—and he missed!

Jia Fei leaped to grab the offensive rebound and passed it to Horford under the basket!

Horford's strong drive was blocked by Howard! Howard is simply an unstoppable force under the basket!

Beverley gets the ball and races down the court at breakneck speed!

Jeremy Lin made a fast break down the other side, but Beverley didn't choose to pass the ball!

Beverley was determined to take on the challenge himself, so he gathered the ball, started his drive, and went for a layup.

Jia Fei, like the mantis stalking the cicada unaware of the oriole behind, delivered a crushing blow!

Screw your basketball dreams!

A long sigh rippled through the crowd!

Beverley turned around to steal the ball, but it was a foul!

The game started with back-and-forth exchanges and lots of blocks, making it a very intense and exciting match!

Yu Jia exclaimed, "Jia Fei's defensive speed on that play was incredible! From grabbing the rebound in the frontcourt to blocking Beverley's shot, his speed was amazing!"

Su Qun said, "Jia Fei's defensive presence is much greater than his offensive presence. He is now the Hawks' number one perimeter defender."

Beverley was complaining that he hadn't fouled, while Jeremy Lin quietly got back on defense.

Jia Fei sighed inwardly, thinking that Jeremy Lin was truly a kind person who was taken advantage of. Before, when he started, Harden took the ball from him, and now that Harden wasn't playing, Beverley was doing all sorts of crazy things with the ball, which was just ridiculous.

With Howard in the paint, the Hawks found it difficult to score in the restricted area, so they simply reduced their inside attacks and increased handoffs and pick-and-roll cuts.

The Rockets focused on Howard's low-post offense and Parsons' outside offense.

Clearly, in Beverley's coaching dictionary, Harden is the primary option on the perimeter when he's on the court, and Parsons is the primary option when Harden isn't. Jeremy Lin's offensive options are even secondary to Beverley's; he's mostly positioned in the corner.

After a pick-and-roll between Horford and Jafi, Horford received a beautiful pass from Jafi and hit a mid-range shot. On the other hand, Howard drove hard to the basket and drew a foul.

Horford had already committed two fouls against Howard halfway through the first quarter and had to leave the game to rest.

Antić came up to guard Howard.

The Hawks have an extremely deep frontcourt, with Ayon and Art Mayok available in addition to Antić, so there's no need to worry about a lack of depth in the paint. However, compared to Horford, these players are all somewhat inferior in ability.

Howard went to the free-throw line multiple times in the first quarter, but his free throw shooting was terrible, making only 2 out of 6 attempts...