The Rockets mainly play in the 3-tower lineup? The inside line becomes a must-fight! The 3-man team has both low-post offense and shooting and defense pass

On the Rockets Media Day before, Rockets head coach Uduka envisioned a very good lineup. This is also the so-called "five lineups" that many people mentioned: tall guard Amen Thompson became the starting point guard of the Rockets, allowing Durant, a player with the center-level height, to serve as the shooting guard.

In this way, the combination of the two can attack and defend, Amen Thompson is good at cutting in the air and breaking into the basket to score easily, while Durant can easily complete the shooting at any position on the outside, and mid-range shots and three-pointers are his specialty; Jabbarry Smith Jr. serves as the small forward. You know, Smith Jr. has always been a standard power forward, and at some moments he can also serve as center.

For example, in the first year when Uduka coached the Rockets two years ago, after the All-Star, Shin Kyung was accidentally injured and was reimbursed for the season. Smith Jr. became the starting center of the Rockets. He beat the second center at the time, and performed quite well in the starting lineup. He cooperated with Jaylen Green to help the Rockets achieve a very good record. Therefore, Smith Jr. can perform well in the center position, and he can also adapt very well in the small forward position. After all, the Rockets often formed a three-tower lineup last season, allowing Shin Kyung and Adams to play as the inside, and Smith Jr. will instead play as a small forward. The two inside players in this lineup are still Shin Kyung playing power forwards, while Adams serves as center. In other words, the Rockets' lineup mainly focuses on the three-tower lineup, and Smith Jr., Shin Kyung and Adams can partner with the Rockets' frontcourt, which also further shows that Uduka and the Rockets attach importance to the inside line next season.

The inside line has now become a must-fight for all teams in the league. Many champion teams have top inside lines, such as the Thunder, which won the championship last season, with Twin Tahaltenstein and Chet Homgren; the Nuggets have Jokic and Aaron Gordon; the Pacers have Turner and Siakam. The Rockets have Shin Kyung and Adams, just like this summer, after Langdale left the team, the Rockets also added Capela to make the Rockets' inside line stronger.

So, last season, the Rockets' three-tower lineup gave Uduka a taste of the sweetness. This tall trio will inevitably be more valued in the new season, especially when Van Vreet was injured and Amen Thompson could only play point guard, increasing the height of the inside will inevitably make up for the shortcomings of the No. 1 position.

These three tall players have very comprehensive skills: Shin Kyung is good at organizing offense and passing balls, and he is also a low-post scoring expert, which is fully reflected in the European Championship; Adams is one of the best defensive centers in the league, with strong rebounding ability and stronger frontcourt rebounding ability, and his blocking ability and screening ability are also at the top five levels in the league.

Smith plays the role of an outside shooter in the trio. He can mention high positions and pull out the outside to shoot three-pointers, gaining more inside space for Adams and Shin Kyung, especially to open up space for Shin Kyung, so that he can have more opportunities to play 1-on-1 singles at low positions. Therefore, Shin Kyung's low-post offense, Smith's three-point shooting from outside, Adams' defense and Shin Kyung's passing, these three players have their own specialties, and they combine to form a frontcourt and inside combination that combines low-post offense, passing, defense and shooting.

Uduka wants to reuse these three players, it is naturally very reasonable, because these three players can help the Rockets win more games on both offense and defense. Although the Rockets' speed may be slowed down, these three players can dominate the inside and make the opponent unable to defend. Cooperating with their outside superstar Durant and top defender Amen Thompson, the Rockets can use this lineup next season and they can be completely aimed at the Finals.