Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 102 "Playing the Ball Correctly"

Contrary to the reduction of live broadcasts in the United States, because of Li Sheng's relationship, CCTV arranged a lot of Thunder games in the new season, which of course squeezed the opportunities of the Lakers and other teams.

However, the Thunder has a lot of fans in China, mainly due to the fact that both young and old fans attract fans. Li Sheng's trip back to China made the Thunder's attention and awareness in China even higher.

It may be that they have this kind of compatriot complex, or it may be brought by the commentators. Anyway, domestic fans have always been full of expectations for these Chinese in the NBA.

Looking back, the improvement of strength can also help the national team.

National honor is above all else!

What makes Li Sheng different is that he is a coach, a position that has always been neglected in China. In fact, the role of a coach in a basketball game is indeed not as influential as a player, so not many people will directly link him with the national team.

But just watching him sit in the coaching position and guide those NBA players to play will also make people unconsciously feel proud.

Not to mention, since the start of the new season, the Thunder has won four consecutive victories. Even if reasonable fans know that the opponent is not too strong, this record is not convincing, but it does not prevent them from being happy.

The title given to Li Sheng before was "Brother Sheng", and now it is about to evolve into "Li Sheng".

Although it is his original name, the meaning used here is obviously different.

In China, the word "sage" cannot be given randomly, after all, Chinese people still have a complex of saints.

Most of them are joking now—fortunately, it’s not black, but if Li Shengzhen gets the grades in the future, maybe he will be able to confirm his "nickname" gradually.

Now in post bars and basketball forums, the number of new Thunder fans is increasing rapidly. Most of them are fans who consciously list the Thunder as one of the home teams because of Li Sheng’s existence.

Of course, domestic fans are not local fans. In addition to having their own "blood relationship", to watch a team or a star must start with winning and outstanding performance. Is there anyone who really starts with a poor record?

If there is a team in this city, it can be understood that there is a geographical relationship. It is not convincing to say that there is no foreign team that has nothing to do with it.

As commentators, Yoga and Yang Jian's positions are very clear, they must be on the side of the Thunder with Li Sheng.

But for this game, it's not wrong for them to praise the Thunder, especially in the case of an unfavorable start, they immediately paused and adjusted and then quickly returned to the situation, which must be credited to Li Sheng.

The performance of the Pistons is actually not bad. Today they replaced Caldwell-Pope as the starter. This rookie is not stage-frightened at all, and he scored two three-pointers in the first quarter.

The best performer was Josh Smith, not to mention restricting Durant on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he also used singles to tightly bite the score.

If it weren't for the outbreak of the "Eagle King", the Thunder may even open the point difference to double digits in the last wave.

But it can also be said that Durant's condition was not very good today, so he failed to open the score.

After all, if Durant can open it, he will not only open it alone, the opponent's defensive resources will definitely be tilted to his side, and the chances of teammates will be much better. This is the core role.

With 2 minutes left at the end of the first quarter, Li Sheng replaced Durant in advance to take a rest, and comforted him well.

However, Li Sheng is not worried about Durant's state, he will definitely be able to adjust himself.

Durant has always had an attribute that fans talk about, that is, no matter how hard or accurate the game is, he can force [-]% of his shots at the end of the game.

Of course, there are times when it is very accurate and very iron, but it can generally maintain this hit rate.

If Li Sheng remembers correctly, in his previous life this season, Durant ended up winning the scoring title with [-]% field goal percentage and close to [-]% three-point field goal percentage. This can be said to be a peak performance.

If it weren't for the injuries suffered later, the Thunder might not have ups and downs after that.

The second quarter was the competition between the rotations of the two sides. Li Sheng did not replace Durant at the beginning, but asked him to sit and chat with Westbrook, and at the same time observe how the game was played on the field.

After coaching the Thunder, Li Sheng discovered that a key problem is that the Thunder's role players are actually okay, including Ibaka, who can do their own duties well and do the tasks assigned by the coach.

It happens that the two cores, Westbrook and Durant, are a bit self-centered in terms of play style and mentality.

As a star, this kind of mentality is not a bad thing, you have to be strong to be really strong.

But for the team and the game, this mentality is not necessarily beneficial.

It's as if they are easy to compete with others and compete with each other on the court. In some games, the double and junior have a good time with their opponents, but the game is difficult, and then the fans say that the Thunder can't play except for the double and junior?
After all, Ibaka is also the best defensive player and the shot blocker. Sefolosha is also a good 3D. Reggie and Lamb are also good at fighting.

After all, neither of them understood the meaning of sacrifice yet.

Needless to say, the Spurs, at the beginning of the Heat, it was James who took the lead and couldn't figure it out. In the end, Wade backed down. After all, his body was indeed not as durable as James, and his decline was faster. In fact, he had to give up.

Then they won the championship, and they still won the championship by stepping on Thunder's corpse.

Later, Durant went to the Warriors, Curry sacrificed his status and spirituality, and Durant also sacrificed his shot rights and data, and this was the cosmic bravery.

The core players must have a little sacrifice spirit, don't think about letting yourself do everything, you can't finish so much.

Sacrifice does not mean that you take fewer shots, but that sometimes you can do some dirty work yourself.

The Heat can't do it inside, and James has gone to the inside. Duncan doesn't want to play center but he has nothing to say when it's time to let him top, let alone Curry.

On the Thunder's side, Durant and Westbrook played comfortably enough, even in their own comfort zone, without major changes.

This is the problem of the previous management and the coach Brooks. Instead of correcting them, they have been letting them go astray.

If it is said that due to Durant's special attribute of "stick singles", the damage is not that great, then Westbrook really can't change it.

And how to maintain their enthusiasm while transforming them is the biggest problem Li Sheng faces. After all, these two, especially Westbrook, are purely passionate players, and only with passion can they play well.

What Li Sheng wants now is to let them take a closer look and take a good look at how the team plays in the "correct way". Even if there are no two core stars, through the tacit cooperation between the players, they can still play a good offense.

But he was quickly slapped in the face, because the Thunder was turned over by the Pistons on the court.

(End of this chapter)