readytorunbook Chapter 123 Kerr: If Wang Xiucheng plays point guard, Curry will play shooting guard...
Chapter 123 Kerr: If Wang Xiucheng plays point guard, Curry will play shooting guard...
The pause is over, and the game has resumed.
Wang Xiucheng was relegated to the bench by Silas.
Firstly, the game had reached the 6th minute, which was also the time for Wang Xiucheng to take a break.
Secondly, Silas was also afraid that the Warriors players might do something outrageous because they were unhappy with Wang Xiucheng, since Wang Xiucheng had only recently returned from injury.
The score was now tied at 15-15.
The player who replaced Wang Xiucheng was naturally Porter Jr., and Shen Jing was also replaced along with Wang Xiucheng, with Wood taking over the reins.
The game slowed down at the start.
Poole's departure forced Curry to play point guard.
And the Rockets' point guard, Porter Jr., was also in great form today.
He made the first shot right in front of Curry, which excited him so much that he punched his chest hard.
But Curry is Curry after all; without even a fake move, he responded with a three-pointer, right in front of Porter Jr.
The score went up and down between the two sides.
At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets made several turnovers, which the Warriors converted into points, giving the Warriors a 27-25 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter continued the rhythm of the first quarter.
The two sides traded blows.
Even without Draymond Green, Curry can still organize the team well for the Warriors; it's just that the other players' scoring efficiency is not high.
It's nowhere near as efficient as the kind of play Curry throws himself.
For the Rockets, Porter Jr.'s first option is to attack himself. If he can't, he will pass the ball to Wood and let Wood attack.
Martin, Christopher, and Garruba are more like defensive tools.
Sitting in the audience, Wang Xiucheng noticed several times that his former friend was looking at him with a somewhat resentful gaze.
It seems to be saying, "It's still better to play ball with you!"
After three minutes, the Warriors finally substituted Curry out.
Without Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, the Warriors have to rely more on Curry, which will lead to a significant increase in Curry's playing time.
The advantage of using Curry to exploit mismatches against the Rockets' bench is that the Warriors are already leading the Rockets by 10 points.
And even when Curry was off the court, this advantage was maintained until the 6th minute of the second quarter.
That is, when Wang Xiucheng came on stage.
When Kerr saw Wang Xiucheng standing in front of the scorer's table, ready to go on the court, he called a timeout.
Wang Xiucheng glanced at Cole and returned to the bench.
Bai stood up. If I had known you would call a timeout, I would have stayed on the bench.
On the Warriors' bench, Curry, who had just taken a short break, took the towel off his head.
Curry returned to the court after resting for only three minutes.
Meanwhile, Wang Xiucheng and Shen Jing both returned to the court for the Rockets.
Although he only rested for three minutes, that was enough for Curry.
Swish!
Curry was the first to receive the ball and immediately made a three-pointer.
They widened the score gap to 13 points.
In fact, Curry was very restrained today, only taking three three-pointers, and making two of them.
He primarily plays the number one position.
With possession transferred, Wang Xiucheng unusually gave Curry a challenge, then drove into the paint, drew Looney over, and passed to Shen Jing for an alley-oop.
Bang!
Shen Jing scored with a powerful one-handed dunk.
The Warriors attacked, but missed this time. The Rockets launched a fast break, and Green received a pass from Wang Xiucheng and shot a three-pointer, but unfortunately, it also missed.
The basketball bounced off the rim and flew towards the free-throw line.
Wang Xiucheng shook off Curry, stepped onto the free-throw line, and leaped high into the air.
Shin Kyung gritted his teeth and held onto Looney behind him, gripping Looney's waist tightly with both hands, afraid that he would touch his front.
Curry stared wide-eyed at Wang Xiucheng, who was already completely airborne, a fleeting look of envy in his eyes.
Too high!
Although Curry already knew that Wang Xiucheng could jump more than a meter, he was still very envious when he actually saw it.
Furthermore, Wang Xiucheng is not only good at jumping, but his hang time is also historic. According to TNT, Wang Xiucheng's hang time is even longer than Jordan's.
These two abilities allow Wang Xiucheng to fly high and for a long time!
Bang!
At the highest point of his shot, Wang Xiucheng met the basketball head-on and slammed it into the hoop, crashing directly into the guardrail.
Having already gained experience, Wang Xiucheng used his protective gear to land on the ground with a single bounce.
Shen Jing and the others came over and gave Wang Xiucheng a high five.
Wang Xiucheng patted Shen Jing on the back.
If he hadn't blocked Looney, Wang Xiucheng wouldn't have been able to dunk from the free-throw line so easily.
This dunk brought a flurry of cheers to the otherwise boos directed at Wang Xiucheng at the Chase Center.
But the cheers were quickly drowned out.
There aren't many players who can elicit such boos from the Warriors' home crowd, but Wang Xiucheng is one of them today.
The rocket's momentum is building.
The Warriors' offense then failed to score several times, while the Rockets were able to turn those attacks into wins each time.
Wang Xiucheng drove into the paint, and when he found himself unguarded, he jumped up and slammed it home.
He passes the ball when someone is defending him.
Gradually, the Rockets managed to erase the deficit.
In the last three minutes of the first half, thanks to Wang Xiucheng's playmaking and a buzzer-beating three-pointer, the Rockets went on an 11-1 run.
At the end of the first half, the Rockets led the Warriors by an impressive 11 points, 54-43.
Cole was completely dumbfounded!
Before Wang Xiucheng entered the game, the Warriors were leading by 10 points. How did they become 11 points behind after just six minutes?
This is equivalent to Wang Xiucheng leading the Rockets to a 21-point victory over the Warriors, who have Curry, in just 6 minutes!
Heh heh heh!
Kerr glanced at Wang Xiucheng's stats on the big screen: 13 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block.
In addition, there were 2 turnovers and 2 fouls.
It can be said that Wang Xiucheng, who only played for 12 minutes, filled up the statistics column.
The seven assists, in particular, were extremely glaring to Kerr!
12 minutes, 7 assists!
That's roughly equivalent to one assist every 100 seconds!
It's important to know that basketball is an offensive game; theoretically, half of the 100 seconds are spent on the opposing team's offense.
If we calculate it this way, Wang Xiucheng gets an assist every 50 seconds, which means that Wang Xiucheng gets an assist every two offensive possessions for the Rockets!
This is exactly the kind of big-carry style of play that Doncic uses.
But it's impossible for Doncic to get an assist every two possessions.
Of course, a dominant player like Doncic scores himself, and he only makes assists when he's double-teamed or when he has a wide-open shot.
But Wang Xiucheng, as a core player, is simply a pass-oriented core player.
Furthermore, the fact that he can efficiently generate an assist from two attacks demonstrates that Wang Xiucheng has excellent timing in passing the ball.
He has the ability to instantly identify which teammate is in a better position.
This ability is innate; Cole doesn't believe it can be developed through training.
Absolutely impossible!
In addition, Wang Xiucheng scored 13 points in 12 minutes, only the last one at the buzzer was a three-pointer, the rest were dunks or free throws.
In Cole's view, Wang Xiucheng's actions were extremely restrained.
This complements Curry's role as the shooting guard perfectly.
If Curry plays shooting guard, he will take the shot regardless of whether there are other players around or where he is, and he will make it.
Such an unreasonable three-pointer would have made anyone else into a rage, but Curry just keeps making them, leaving Kerr with no reason to criticize him.
"If Wang Xiucheng played point guard and passed the ball to Curry, who is good at running, what a sight it would be with Curry's unrestricted shooting ability..."