The Godfather of Basketball

After dealing with the matter of the record company, Tang Tian flew back to Houston.

The Rockets will face the bitter Mavericks in a day, and he had to say something about the proposal that was delayed because of the TNT incident.

This is a routine meeting of the coaching staff for a day, and the topic of discussion is naturally how to deal with the Mavericks.

Although it has been a season since the last time the two teams played in the playoffs, there will be no shortage of grievances between the two teams in Texas.

"The Mavericks have a very balanced offense and defense this season. Nowitzki is also in hot form. Most importantly, they have found a way to win. Like us, they started with five consecutive victories. This game is very difficult to play. What do you suggest? Is it? Tom, you go first." Van Gundy said.

This is a plenary meeting of the coaching staff. Dawson is not here, and Van Gundy is the person who has the most say.

"The key to defending the Mavericks is how to limit Nowitzki. His basket, back, and shooting are all headaches for us." Thibodeau was named and said.

Several other assistant coaches nodded one after another after listening. The last time they lost the playoffs, Nowitzki was an unsolvable problem.

"Anyone else have any advice?" Van Gundy asked next.

"How about double-teaming?"

"Nowitzki's scoring is also very timely. The Mavericks' outside scoring point, Terry, Josh Howard, Stankhouse, they can also kill the game."

"Then what should we do? No one can restrain him one-on-one."

The other teaching assistants discussed for a while, but there was still no good solution.

Van Gundy finally looked at Tang Tian. The key to playing against the Mavericks was how to defend Nowitzki. It was mainly about the defensive end. He didn't really want to ask Tang Tian, ​​but Tang Tian was the number one assistant after all.

"Don, what do you think?"

"When we were thinking about how to defend Nowitzki, the Mavericks were also thinking about how to limit Yao and T-mac." Tang Tian said.

This sentence did not answer Van Gundy directly, but everyone, including Thibodeau, nodded thoughtfully after listening.

Nowitzki is very strong, but Yao Ming and McGrady are not weak, especially after using a new offensive system this season.

"So I think the main problem in the game against the Mavericks is not defense or offense, but our rotation." Tang Tian asked the question he wanted to talk about before.

"Rotation?" Everyone else looked puzzled, as did Van Gundy. He originally thought that Tang Tian would take advantage of the trend and say that offense is the key.

"Yes, our defensive system is relatively mature, and our offensive system is also improving day by day, but our current rotation is difficult to compete with the Mavericks' bench. We were blown away at the start of the second quarter."

"This is indeed a problem. After these few games, once Yao is off the field, our offensive efficiency is very low. I always feel that there is something missing in our current rotation." Thibodeau agreed.

"Lack of experience and vitality." Tang Tian took the words.

"There are two key points for a substitute to play, impact and stability. When we are behind, we need a substitute to attack and grab points. When we are ahead, we need a substitute to control the situation and stabilize the point difference. We Now not only is the impact limited, but the stability is also terrible."

After listening to Tang Tian's words, the other teaching assistants nodded as if they had realized something.

The current main rotation consists of Mutombo, Hyde, Wells, and Millsap. Although Mutombo is old and strong, it is obviously unrealistic for him to have an impact. Hyde and Millsap are immature and have little experience. As for Wells, who has great expectations, his state is completely different from last year's Kings.

What Tang Tian said was indeed on point.

Van Gundy frowned. Tang Tian and Thibodeau sang together, and he felt like he was being emptied.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Van Gundy said sullenly.

Tang Tian knew that Van Gundy would be unhappy if he suggested this, but he had already had some luck in winning against the Heat before, so he had to mention it if he wanted the Rockets to continue to win.

"Bring Paul (Millsap) to the starting lineup and let Juwan (Howard) go on the bench, which not only increases the vitality and defensive strength of the starting lineup, but also increases the experience of the bench lineup. In a shorter period of time, Juwan also It can be played more efficiently."

"Kick Bunch (Wells) out of the rotation and give his time to Steve (Novak), or Vasilis (Spanoris), Steve's three and Vasilis His organizational skills can help the team, but their defense is a problem and they need to control their playing time."

"Chuck (Hayes) can replace Dikembe (Mutombo) in the rotation against fast opponents like the Mavericks or the Warriors."

Tang Tian said the proposal he had thought up before in one breath.

Every adjustment is justified, and the new rotation has both impact and stability.

"I think Tang's proposal can be given a try." Thibodeau said after listening to it. He played the summer league with Tang Tian, ​​and after witnessing Tang Tian's genius in the last game, his thoughts also changed a little bit. .

The other teaching assistants also nodded.

But Van Gundy's eyes widened.

Not just because it changed the rotation, but in his opinion, it just sucks.

Millsap is a rookie, how could he be competent to start? As for Novak and Spanoulis, two players who can't defend at all, he will never let them enter the rotation, and Hayes, unless Yao Ming is injured and needs to be replaced, otherwise he still believes in defensive ability Mutombo, who has better experience and experience.

"No, this adjustment is too harmful to the team's defense." Van Gundy said directly.

Tang Tian was stunned for a moment, this was already the most favorable adjustment he made based on the current lineup, but he didn't expect Van Gundy to have such an attitude.

It seems that this assistant coach is not going well, and he is more comfortable when he is the head coach in the summer league.