NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 420 Roll Call 58

Beverley dribbled the ball upcourt and immediately passed it to Jia Fei.

DeAndre Jordan wanted to come up for a screen, but Jia Fei shook his head and refused, instead having Patrick Beverley come over for the screen.

Obviously, if DeAndre Jordan comes over to set a screen, the opponent will delay and double-team him. DeAndre Jordan's speed on the cut is not fast, while Card's movement speed is very fast, making it very difficult for him to cut and finish the dunk.

Both D'Antoni on the sidelines and the fans in the arena seemed confused as to why Jia Fei chose Beverley for the screen instead of someone else. Logically, while 58cm tall is short, he's a long-time All-Defensive First-Team guard with excellent defense. There were clearly many defensive liability players like Ryan Anderson on the court; why not choose them?

Old Li was also puzzled. He didn't care about tactics, especially detailed ones, and often let the star players choose for themselves. This gave the stars more freedom, which was sometimes a good thing. The bad thing was that he was also confused now and couldn't explain why.

58 is known for his aggressive and tenacious style; in terms of toughness, he's arguably the toughest player on his Clippers team. Unfortunately, the toughest player on a team is only 183cm tall, and he's a support player, so you can imagine where the team's ceiling is. 58 is definitely one of the strongest supports; he's also one of the team's ADCs (the other being Griffin), and the team's primary perimeter defender. Even against players like the young Bricklayer and the fast-paced player in their prime, he wouldn't back down and dared to take on defenders one-on-one; he was truly tough.

So even when facing Jia Fei, the league's strongest offensive player this season, 58 showed no intention of backing down. In this respect, Harden is no match for him.

The fans in the arena immediately cheered. The new king and the old king of the Los Angeles Clippers were going head-to-head, a scene that many fans had never dared to imagine before, because the two did not play the same position.

Jia Fei had the ball, and 58 crouched down to try and disrupt his dribbling. Shorter defenders like 58, mismatched against taller players, love to stick close and contest, locking down the lower body and disrupting the opponent's dribbling and shooting rhythm. Even if the opponent actually pulls up for a jump shot, they can't truly disrupt it.

The reason Tony Allen was so effective at defending Durant back then wasn't because he could actually reach Durant's shots, but because he locked down Durant's lower body.

Jia Fei possesses the ball-handling ability of Allen Iverson at his peak, so even though he is 20 centimeters taller than 58, he can protect the ball steadily. In this respect, apart from McGrady and Penny at their peak, very few players over 2 meters tall can have such ball-handling ability.

Jia Fei dribbled the ball and walked inside, facing the basket, turned his back, and sat down at 58.

58 has a very low center of gravity because he is short and has a big butt, like a smelly and hard cesspool rock.

Many people felt that Jia Fei's effort in pushing against the rock in the cesspool was not a wise choice, and even his head coach, Mr. Doug Rivers, thought so, because it seemed like a waste of energy.

But Jia Fei didn't think so. Even though his turnaround jump shot didn't go in, it was still his brilliant plan!

The ball missed, Harden grabbed the rebound, pushed the fast break, drove the length of the court, and passed to Ryan Anderson on the right wing. Anderson received the ball and immediately took a three-pointer—which also missed!

Long rebound!

Jia Fei and 58 both leaped to grab the rebound, but Jia Fei, with his superior height and wingspan, clearly won it!

Jia Fei brought the ball over and continued the pick-and-roll to score at 58!

However, he still missed this time. Besides Jia Fei's own shooting touch, 58's defense was also really good. He made a lot of subtle moves, but not to the point that the referee would call them. Moreover, his subtle moves were very discreet and always managed to evade the referee's notice.

The Clippers fans at the scene also felt that there might be something wrong with Jia Fei's choice. They knew a lot about 58's defensive ability. This guy was just short, but his defense was really good. He was dark, fierce, smart, and very tough. He was indeed a model for short players.

Jia Fei still held 58 in awe, even though the two teams were now rivals and the two didn't have much of a relationship. This made him even more focused on the game, determined to defeat this powerful player head-on, which was also the greatest respect he could show.

"Mr. Yang, why does Jia Fei keep setting screens to get Paul to attack? I feel that this offensive approach is less effective than having Harden or Ryan Anderson attack!" Wang Meng asked, puzzled.

Yang Yi twirled his pen and said, "I'm also a little confused. Logically speaking, Paul's defense is very good, but Harden's defense is not good. Anyone can pick on him, but picking a tough opponent doesn't make sense. But think about it, you and I can both think of it, I don't believe Jia Fei can't. He must have his reasons."

Jia Fei's pick-and-roll pick-and-roll with 58 wasn't very effective on offense, and the Rockets' pick-and-roll pick-and-roll with Jordan was also ineffective. The game seemed to be heading in the same direction as the previous two games, and the Clippers fans in the arena were as anxious as ants on a hot plate, feeling like they couldn't see any hope.

Midway through the first quarter, Jia Fei continued to attack 58, and it was clear that 58's footwork was starting to falter. Initially, his rhythm was off, followed by issues with his movement speed and defensive intensity.

Jia Fei knew his opportunity had arrived.

With 58's defensive intensity decreasing, Jia Fei played more effectively, scoring consecutively in one-on-one situations.

The Rockets also sensed something was wrong and immediately double-teamed to help 58, but Jia Fei assisted Redick and Beverley to hit three-pointers in a row, and the offense began to pick up, eventually taking the lead.

With the second unit coming in, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell combined their skills to wreak havoc on their former team, continuing their scoring spree.

The Clippers couldn't stop the Rockets, but the Rockets couldn't stop them either. In the previous two games, the Clippers' offense mainly couldn't match the Rockets' in the starting lineup, but in this game, Jia Fei used his individual skills to create scoring opportunities, which in turn energized the team's offense, allowing them to match the Rockets' and play a high-scoring game.

Everyone present was stunned. They had no idea that this could be done.

However, this approach also carries risks. For example, can the Clippers maintain their high outside shooting percentage? The Clippers' offense picked up in this game, but their defense still hasn't solved the problem of DeAndre Jordan's inability to defend pick-and-rolls, which is a huge hidden danger.

"Mr. Yang, I feel that Paul's physical condition is not quite right!" Wang Meng said weakly in the Tencent studio.

Yang Yi frowned slightly, then suddenly slapped his thigh, realizing, "I understand now, so that's what Jia Fei was planning."

Wang Meng was also a little confused. How did Yang Yi understand again?

Wang Meng looked at Yang Yi, who explained, "It's like this: Jia Fei sets screens for the players Paul is guarding, and whoever Paul is guarding, Jia Fei sets a screen for. Once the switch happens, Paul ends up in front of Jia Fei. Jia Fei is the Clippers' strongest offensive player, and having him target Paul seems like he's picking on a good defender, which doesn't seem worthwhile. But if you look at it from a deeper perspective, Paul was injured before and didn't play in the first game. If Jia Fei keeps targeting him like this, his injury will only worsen, not improve. If Paul can't play due to his physical condition, the Clippers won't be afraid of Harden alone."