Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 104 Halftime Lead
Westbrook has been training with the team now, but he didn't play.

In fact, the team doctor said that he was ready to play, but Li Sheng still said that he would observe and observe again, and asked him to do a routine checkup every day after training.

This made Westbrook feel a little bit distressed, but the uniform team agreed with Li Sheng's opinion. After all, Westbrook had only undergone surgery because of knee swelling before, so there is nothing wrong with being careful.

And what the team gave to the outside world has always been that Westbrook is in a state of injury, so he is watching the game from the sidelines in a suit and leather shoes.

He also came out with the team in the away game, which actually shows his current desire for games and playing.

But now the entire team seems to have formed a unified opinion. After negotiations, his team also thinks this is a reasonable disposal, but he himself is still a little twisted.

At this time, Li Sheng joked: "Maybe we will overturn in this game. If so, I will consider letting you play against the Wizards next game."

Although the test results of the "system doctor" showed that Westbrook still had potential injuries, but the team doctor couldn't find out, so he couldn't keep using this reason to get stuck.

So change the way of thinking, let Westbrook play for a while, destroy the team's chemical reaction, and then wait for his injury to recur and the team will get back on track. This will not only stimulate the team but also continue to stimulate Westbrook.

Wei Shao obviously didn't know this. Hearing this, his eyes lit up first, and then he frowned again, with a troubled expression on his face, which made Li Sheng secretly smile.

Westbrook wants to play, but he certainly doesn't want to see his teammates, especially Durant, work hard but fail to win.

Li Sheng is deliberately messing with his mentality...

Follow Li Sheng and ignore him, continue to watch the game on the field.

The Pistons have gradually changed back to the main force, but to be honest, with their lineup, it is already difficult to tell who is the main force and who is the substitute.

Although the starting five players are undoubtedly stronger, especially the concentrated defense can slightly limit the Thunder, but they have a fatal weakness, that is, they can't shoot outside.

Not to mention the two insiders, the three-pointer of the eclipse is completely dependent on the sky.

The strongest shooter in this lineup is Jennings, but after his amazing rookie season, he is not magical now, so he is more efficient than Stuckey and has more experience than Pope. In fact, he is also a bit neurotic.

Today, his offensive state happens to be average, so on the offensive end, the Pistons can only try to hit the inside.

However, Ibaka and Perkins formed an inside defensive combination to take care of the penalty area. After a few games, the two slowly recovered their previous state. Neither Monroe nor Zhuang Shen is that strong and can stand up to them.

So the Pistons can only pin their hopes on the weak side of the eclipse in one-on-one singles, frequently creating opportunities for him.

The lunar eclipse has already scored 8 points in the first quarter. As soon as the second quarter came up, he immediately slipped to the baseline and received a pass for a dunk.

But then Li Sheng began to arrange for Robertson to focus on greeting him. Durant and Ibaka also interfered from the side, and his efficiency immediately dropped a lot.

In terms of assist data, Eclipse has the ability to connect and organize to a certain extent. Back then, the Eagles probably wanted him to follow James' path, and it also cultivated a little effect.

But in terms of individual singles, he is far behind Durant.

His face-to-face breakthrough is easily restricted, and his back is not stable, and Robertson has quickly adapted to the NBA's game rhythm after a few games.

This has a lot to do with the experience of the summer training camp. In other words, the three Thunder rookies who participated in the training camp have made great progress this offseason, especially on the defensive end. After all, they are facing players like Durant and Leonard all day long.

Lunar Eclipse also wants to rely on himself to attract double-teams and then assist his teammates. Unfortunately, the Thunder's strategy is to let him play singles, just to see if he can't kill anyone in singles. No matter what Robertson says, he can limit his efficiency.

Looking back, Durant on the Thunder's side may have sat on the bench for a while, and the touch came back, scoring consecutive points on the eclipse head.

I have to say that Durant is in top form this season. Although he averaged less than 30 points per game in the first four games, he is very efficient.

Under Li Sheng's coaching, he actually used his own threats to create opportunities for his teammates. This made him score less, but he scored all points with confidence. On the contrary, his assist data has increased a lot, and he currently averages 7+ per game.

And as the cooperation with his teammates becomes more and more tacit, the improvement of the rookies can better adapt to the rhythm of the game, and his subsequent performance will of course be better.

In fact, whether it is good or not depends on a comprehensive perspective. If he reduces some energy on the offensive end and focuses on defense, his data panel will definitely look better.

Maybe it can change some people's bad impression of his defense. After all, Durant, who has never been selected for a defensive team in his career, has indeed not proved himself on the defensive end.

Everyone says that he is good at single defense, but in fact he is neither good at defending guards, nor can he hit the inside line. His weaknesses are obvious, unless he can be placed in a system, such as the so-called "Four Famous Catchers".

Finally, at the end of the first half, the Thunder still stretched their lead to double digits. This is actually the difference in hard power between the two teams.

Although the Thunder lost a core player, the rest of the players are not weak. With the addition of Antetokounmpo and other new players, they are all capable of rushing.

It is normal for rookies to have the confidence to perform well in the first few games, and it is not easy to be targeted when playing next to the core, so they can perform better.

The Pistons' defense can actually be a top, but the offense stalls from time to time is too fatal, and it may have to be beaten back by the Thunder in two rounds.

If it weren't for Jennings' last attack to receive a pass and hit a super long three-pointer, the point difference would have come to 15 points.

During the halftime break, Li Sheng didn't say anything, and asked the players to take a good rest and get enough energy for the second half.

The rhythm of this game has been controlled in the hands, and the opponent has no good way.

Although Cheeks was an assistant coach of the Thunder before, his understanding of the Thunder still stayed during Brooks' coaching period. The current Thunder obviously made him feel a little strange.

He originally thought that if he could hold Durant down, he would be able to suppress the Thunder. After all, in his impression, the Thunder's offense basically relied on two or two.

Unexpectedly, Thunderclap changed the situation all of a sudden with a tactical shift.

And in the final analysis, the Pistons themselves are too bad, and they failed to seize the opportunity when they had the opportunity. Then when Durant recovered and his teammates dared not let him go, they couldn't hold him down.

Durant had already scored 17 points in the first half, 12 points in the second quarter, 6 of 4, and a total shooting rate of 50%. At the same time, he also had 6 assists and 7 rebounds. It is very likely that he can get another triple-double.

The Pistons also scored 17 points, but only made 15 of 6 shots, missed all three three-pointers, and made 3 turnovers.

The performance of others is not as good as him. Jennings only hit 10 goals in 3 shots, Pope made 5 of 2 three-pointers, and Billups only scored 6 points.

Monroe's efficiency was not bad, but he didn't have many shots. Zhuang Shen was pushed immobile by Perkins, and because of the Thunder's style of play, he only grabbed 5 rebounds, which was far less efficient than before.

In the first half, the ratio of rebounds between the two teams was 32:24. The Thunder grabbed 5 offensive rebounds and directly exploded the Pistons, which has always had a good rebound rate.

(End of this chapter)