Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 195 The Role of the Head Coach
How to say the Heat's strength, it is indeed a bit beyond Li Sheng's expectation-unexpectedly weak.

He even felt that the Heat were not as good as the Pacers, the Clippers, the Warriors, and the Trail Blazers.

It can only be said that James, who relied on "one star and four shots" to conquer the world, can't find a stable and suitable shooter now, which greatly reduces the power of his so-called system.

Both Battier and Ray Allen have reached the age of retirement, and the Heat can't find new players to replace them. On the defensive end, the weak link in the interior defense has always existed, and even Battier and James themselves have to go to the interior.

Wade's decline is not only on the offensive end, but also on defense, it is difficult to float around like he did when he was young.

In the past, the Heat could let you score 5 points first, and then play a "black [-] minutes" suffocating defense to overtake the score directly, but now it is impossible to do it.

Li Sheng could suddenly understand why the Heat let the Spurs score that much in the finals in the previous life, and the Spurs' offense was very smooth.

After all, the Prosperity sports car, the Adversity Buddha, and the Desperate Demon Sword slashed gods and demons, but in the end, only a third-year Leonard ran to shit on them, and by the way won a "Counterpoint MVP".

The gap between the two is too big. The Heat passed all the way in the Eastern Conference, only to find out in the finals that they are not a level opponent at all. They are a dish in front of the Spurs.

This may be because the East is too weak at this time. Except for the Pacers, no team can cause them a little bit of trouble.

Think about it too, the three strongest stars in the East form a team, what lineups are the other opponents?
The Pacers are at the same level as George, the Bulls' Rose is ruined by injuries, and other teams are even more bleak.

No wonder the later All-Star Game was changed from East and West to their own picks, otherwise the star-studded West is a bit shabby every year, and the contrast is too obvious.

In the second half, the Thunder quickly opened up the score. With the integration of Westbrook and the recovery of Antetokounmpo, "Lei San Crazy" has also slowly returned recently.

The Heat's three-pointers are still not good, and except for the Big Three, others can only eat cakes or make open shots.

The youthful vitality of the Thunder has brought a great impact to the old arms and legs of the Heat, especially after two years, the core of the Thunder has become more mature, while the core of the Heat has been affected by age and injuries, and is becoming more and more unbearable.

As this ebbs and flows, they can only sigh.

With more than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Li Sheng had already replaced all the main players. At this time, the point difference on the court had reached [-] points.

It’s not that I look down on the Heat, but that I’ve seen everything I need to see. Now is the time to experiment. Even if the car overturns, it doesn’t matter, and the more overturned the better to find the problem. After all, what Li Sheng is looking at now is not the record of the regular season, but is starting to prepare for the playoffs.

The previous record has given him enough confidence, even if the outside world has doubts after the game, he can bear it, anyway, it is just such a game.

If you have nothing to do, continue to do it in the future, and stop doing it after the car rollover is a big deal.

More importantly, let the rookies experience the feeling of "adversity".

But Spoelstra didn't seem to want to give Li Sheng this chance. After 2 minutes, he also replaced the main player and made an early shot.

Miami's home fans have already left the field, and they don't even bother to boo. These leisurely fans seem to come to the beach for afternoon tea. They arrive late and leave early, and they don't seem to care about the team's victory or defeat.

In the 2 minutes the main players were on the court, the Thunder played vigorously, but they seemed to lose heart and failed to catch up with the score.

Probably also in order to avoid harsh criticism after the game, simply replace them to protect it.

Under such circumstances, Li Sheng was naturally more at ease in conducting experiments, and even played Antetokounmpo, Ennis, Robertson, Gobert, and Thabeet in the last 3 minutes-this game gave Reggie a rest.

With three forwards on the outside and two towers on the inside, it has completely become a "Giant Game", absolutely fucking "retro".

The key is to be able to play decently. In fact, Li Sheng did not practice this lineup in the previous training match.

But the problem is that there are Antetokounmpo and Gobert in this lineup. Their connecting passes can easily scramble the opponent's third team, because the opponent's defense is not systematic at all, but the offensive movement here is still decent.

Seeing this situation, people on the Heat side are at a loss, what is going on?

The Thunder bench was smiling happily. Durant, who scored 34 points in 33 minutes, covered his mouth with a towel and whispered to Westbrook. Their faces almost turned into chrysanthemums.

Today he not only won the game, but also beat James in terms of statistics, and in the results of the previous All-Star voting, he also beat James to become the top voter. Can you not be happy?

Personal friendship is personal friendship, but in Durant's heart, he still hopes to be able to overwhelm James, but it was difficult to do it in the past, but now it seems to be easy.

It may also be that you have been suppressed too badly in the past, so it is easy to feel a sense of accomplishment now.

At the end of the game, the Thunder had already released some water, but they still defeated the Heat with a big score of 121:98. In fact, as long as you watch the second and third quarters of the game, you can see the current gap between the two teams.

After the game, the TNT team launched a debate around the game, and the topic of who is stronger now, James or Durant, was put on the agenda again.

Because the Thunder did not break out the expected infighting plot, and there are no other new topics worthy of attention, the most noteworthy is still the comparison between Durant and James.

From the competition for the All-Star ticket champion, to the MVP competition this season, to the outcome and data comparison of this regular season, James actually lost to Durant in all aspects, which is rare.

Barkley couldn't help asking: "Guys, we should discuss now whether the Heat are too weak or the Thunder are too strong, whether KD's teammates are better, or LeBron's teammates are not good. If they leave the team, how do they compare? What do you think?"

O'Neal shook his head and said: "I don't agree with your comparison. The Heat are one of the most successful teams in the past three years. They reached the finals three times and won a championship. LeBron won two MVPs and one FMVP, and Kevin has none of these honors..."

O'Neal frowned as soon as he mentioned the championship Barkley, but he still defended: "But he will soon be able to win the first MVP. This season the Thunder is likely to win the championship, and KD will also become the FMVP..."

O'Neal waved his fat hand and interrupted mercilessly: "Then wait until he gets it!"

Seeing Barkley deflated, other commentators couldn't help laughing, and the studio was full of joy.

Kenny Smith mentioned a very crucial point, "I think the outstanding performance of the Thunder this year, we cannot ignore the role of the head coach Li Sheng. Some people think that he stole the fruits of Scott Brooks, but I think it is he who brought the Thunder to a new height."

"Maybe we should look at the performance later, I'm still cautious about it..."

From the comparison between Durant and James to the possibility of the Thunder's championship this season, the ratings of this episode of NBA Insider are good, because it is hitting a hot spot, and it also triggered a new round of discussions about Durant, about the final record of the Thunder, about Li Sheng, and about the championship.

(End of this chapter)