Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 116 The Rookie Surprise
"The performance of the Thunder in the rotation stage undoubtedly overwhelmed the Wizards. The situation of this game seems to be changing."

Because of Antetokounmpo's outstanding performance during this period, the Thunder began to gain the upper hand, leading the Wizards by five points for the first time in this game.

Yang Jian nodded with a smile, and said, "Brother Antetokounmpo didn't do much in the first half, but he missed two good three-pointers, and he woke up in the second half."

Yoga said: "Durant has scored 30 points this time, and his teammates are not bad. Except for Reggie Jackson, who is a little sluggish, they all made contributions."

Yang Jian shook his head and said, "Reggie Jackson is a player who is strong offensively and weak defensively. He can't defend against Wall and Bill. He will have obvious weaknesses in the Thunder's perimeter defense on the court. In addition, it just so happens that he is not in good offensive form today. It is right for Li Sheng to put him off the court."

"This is also the decisive point of Coach Lee. After all, with Westbrook injured, the Thunder still needs a point guard. Of course, the current lineup without a point guard is also playing well, especially Antetokounmpo. The performance of Brother Antetokounmpo has surprised many fans."

Durant, who was resting off the court, stood up and waved excitedly when he saw the team's outstanding performance. His smile was completely sincere.

After all, he is not "dead" now, even Westbrook can't threaten his status in the Thunder, let alone just a few rookies.

On the contrary, the stronger they are, the more help they will be to the team. The team can achieve good results, which is also a good thing for him personally. After all, it proves his ability to lead the team.

Now he suddenly began to have some doubts. Could it be that Presti and Brooks had poor vision before, or that the training was not good, otherwise why the drafts of the previous two years were wasted?
The three young players are all lottery picks and are the top four picks. It can be said that if they play normally, it is definitely the team's fault. Ibaka's 24th pick is a surprise.

And the players selected after 09 were either traded or not played, and there was only one Reggie left, and now he is only able to rotate.

And it seems that the advantages and disadvantages are too obvious. The offensive end has no basket and no organization. Once the breakthrough is blocked, it will be useless. Not to mention the defense, it is better than Lamb.

It's just that this season because of Westbrook's injury, he had to be put in the starting lineup. The current data seems to be efficient, and it is also because Li Shengduo let him do what he is good at, and played at the right time without exposing his weaknesses too much.

Of course, he has indeed grown year by year, and now he is at least sure of the open three-pointer, and it is not impossible to evolve in the future.

On the contrary, this year, from the lottery, the end of the first round to the second round pick, the four rookies have quickly integrated into the team. Their ability to improve so quickly has already shown their potential, and their immediate combat ability is the most surprising thing.

Especially the three Giannis who trained with him during the offseason. He watched how they improved. At first they were not as strong as they are now, especially at the beginning of the shooting, only Ennis could see it.

If you defend, even if it’s just to scare them, they may not get in because of trembling hands, but if you don’t guard and give an open space, they will really get in.

During this process, Li Sheng didn't seem to do anything, but he had to make Durant suspect that Li Sheng had some future eyes, and he was able to see things that so many team scouts couldn't see.

In particular, Antetokounmpo can practice shooting while building muscle, and Gobert can pass the ball with one hand. This is Li Yong's idea, which can already explain the problem.

And if you are lucky, if you have one or two, it's okay to say, but if you have four together, the probability is comparable to winning the first prize in the lottery, right?

"The atmosphere of the Thunder also looks very good. At present, except for Westbrook's team lineup is still neat, and the record is also good, which makes Westbrook's contribution not so much pressure, rookies and veterans can play together."

Yang Jian said with a smile: "I think this has something to do with Coach Li's coordination. Of course, we know that the atmosphere in the Thunder's locker room was good before. However, Li Shengcai just joined the team. It is not easy to stabilize the team so quickly, especially the two cores."

"Okay, let's continue to watch the game. The Wizards made another substitution. Whitman actually chose to put Ariza on ahead of time. Is this aimed at Brother Antetokounmpo?"

Li Sheng also felt a little surprised by this move. Does this mean that Durant doesn't care?

It seems to be right, anyway, Ariza can't prevent Durant, so it's better to suppress Antetokounmpo's limelight first.

Although Antetokounmpo often uses pick-and-roll cooperation, he is not a guard after all, and he may not be able to completely get rid of it after the pick-and-roll. Whitman also put Ellington in the fourth position, which increases the field.

The best thing is to block him on the outside, let him take a step and let him shoot three-pointers, and see if he dares to shoot.

After all, the defender is passive, and sometimes has to make a choice, so take a gamble.

Ariza played a role on the court. Compared with Ellington, he still has some advantages. Antetokounmpo still suffers from experience. Male rookies of this quality always have a disadvantage, that is, they like to jump around on the defensive end, and some even fly at a point.

Even Robertson, the best defender, couldn't grasp it. Antetokounmpo was cheated by Ariza this time and scored a 2+1.

However, rookies need to accumulate experience and remember lessons to grow slowly, and even follow suit.

So looking back, the Thunder suddenly emptied one side, and Antetokounmpo also began to imitate Durant's horns to force Ariza. For a while, Ariza felt as if he was facing another Durant.

The height, shape and even the movements are quite similar, the difference is probably only in the finishing touch.

But I don't know if Ariza made Durant play a little PTSD. This time, when Antetokounmpo turned around, he immediately jumped up like a conditioned reflex.

But Antetokounmpo slyly used his right foot as the axis to turn in another direction and threw the ball up, not asking for a goal but only for the whistle.

Just when Ariza landed and hit his throwing left hand—

beep!
Sure enough, the whistle rang, and Antetokounmpo successfully paid Ariza a foul.

Although the referee had to give the rookie a bad start, it was impossible not to give such an obvious foul. After all, there were Thunder fans on the sidelines.

After Ariza flew up, his whole body almost fell on Brother Antetokounmpo, that is to say, he hasn't learned how to fly his knees yet, otherwise he would have to give Brother Antetokounmpo the treatment of Buddha.

Of course, Iron Elbow must have learned it in Los Angeles. The anger of being played by a rookie made him want to return it in the next round, but unfortunately this time he had committed five fouls. This was the third quarter, and Whitman really had to replace him again.

"Ariza kept shaking his head when he left the court, and he seemed very helpless."

"Coach Li said before that Brother Antetokounmpo has a strong learning ability. I didn't expect to learn and sell on the court."

Maybe this time I was happy too. Antetokounmpo performed supernormally at the free throw line and made two free throws.

In fact, he is not bad at free throws now, but the hits before today are really not high, but now it seems that he has suddenly opened up the two veins of Ren and Du, and he can get through everything directly.

At 79:76, the Thunder still led by 3 points.

(End of this chapter)