Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 212 Thunder VS Spurs
"OKC! OKC! OKC!"

After a lapse of one year, he once again stood on the stage of the Western Conference finals. For the fans of Oklahoma City, it felt a little strange.

After all, they've been through a lot in the past year, and it still doesn't feel real.

The start of this season was full of controversy and uncertainty. Who knew they would enter the playoffs with the best record in history, and then entered the Western Conference Finals so smoothly.

What's more, they are facing the old opponent of the Spurs, and it is also a contest between young people and "Sunset Red".

The challenge from the defending champion Spurs also made the Thunder fans feel a little uncertain, so from the beginning of the game, they wanted to overwhelm the opponent in momentum. The fans all wore blue home jerseys and chanted slogans to deter their opponents.

But of course the Spurs will not be overwhelmed by such tricks. Even the youngest player, Leonard, is a big-hearted player who has passed the test of the finals, not to mention GDP, Popovich and others.

Even before the start of the game, they were still talking and laughing on the bench, and Popovich took the initiative to find Li Sheng and Udoka to communicate.

"Congratulations……"

"Thank you, I will let you go faster." Li Sheng said, blinking his eyes.

Popovich froze for a moment, then laughed.

Although a few brief exchanges in the regular season were enough for him to realize that the other party was different from his impression, but now it seems that being the head coach has also changed his temperament a lot, and he has become more aggressive.

Of course, that's what makes it interesting.

Popovich is an old-school guy who has faced challenges his whole life, certainly not shy away from them.

So he immediately smiled and said, "I'll invite you to the Holy City to watch the finals in a week..."

one week……

Is that a sweep?

Li Sheng raised his eyebrows, laughed and said, "I can ask Amy to accompany you then!"

Uduka next to him suddenly had an innocent face, what does this have to do with him?
The confrontation between the two teams started from the fans to the coaches, and then to the players on the court. After the Western Conference Finals started on time, the players of the two teams stepped into the arena, and the referee also took the ball to the center line, ready to jump the ball.

"Viewers and friends, welcome to today's CCTV channel to bring you the NBA 2013-14 season playoffs, the first game of the Western Conference Finals.

"The opponents are teams, coaches, and players we are familiar with, the Spurs and the Thunder. The Thunder did not have any accidents this year, and they reached the Western Conference Finals smoothly, but the Spurs struggled in front of them.

"Although the record gap between the two teams in the regular season is not small, there are still many people who believe that the Spurs will cause a lot of trouble for the Thunder before the game, and they will even defeat the Thunder and fight the Heat again!"

The live broadcast in the United States also discussed the pre-match predictions before the official start of the game. There are quite a few people who predicted that the Spurs will enter the finals, although overall they are still more optimistic about the Thunder.

After all, the record of 72 wins in the regular season is there, which can be compared with the Dynasty Bulls back then.

Although when this kind of thing happens in front of them, many people still feel unreal.

Then there will often be a lot of people who care about the past and the present like to stand up at this time and say that the NBA at this time is far less golden than the 90s. It is not that the Thunder are too strong, but that the opponent is too weak.

Including the Bulls, except that Jordan still maintained his aloof personality and did not express any opinions, Pippen, Rodman and even Cole and others expressed their opinions on this interview.

Cole believes that the Thunder's regular season this season is undoubtedly successful, but the real test still comes in the playoffs. The real strength of the Dynasty Bulls is not actually the 72 wins and 10 losses in the regular season that season, but that they won the championship and won again in the second year.

This statement has been recognized by many people. After all, in recent years, there have been examples of good regular season records but overturned playoffs. Isn’t that how the black seven black eights came about, although reaching 70 wins means that the strength may have exceeded the first level.

But in the same way, like the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, many people think that they have preserved their strength in the regular season. After all, how can you expect a team that takes regular seasons seriously?
Even the record against the Thunder is often unconvincing due to the absence of the main players.

Rodman actually carefully analyzed the comparison between the two teams, and believed that the Thunder had the advantage in rebounding, and he believed that the team with the advantage in rebounding would win the final victory of this round of the series.

Pippen even said bluntly: "The current NBA is too soft, far inferior to ours. If the Bulls were in this era, they would have a record of unbeaten victories."

It's nothing new for Pi Erye to be open-mouthed. In recent years, he has often made some surprising remarks to catch people's attention.

To put it bluntly, no matter how good he was at the beginning of the game, now that he is retired, he is just a balloon star that no one cares about. To put it mildly, he is called a celebrity.

What was even worse for Pippen was that he refused to listen to Jordan's dissuasion and insisted on signing the ten-year long-term contract, but later he regretted it.

The more the later stars earned, the more short-sighted his original decision seemed.

Now there is no lower limit for making money. Old teammate Jordan can step on his feet, thinking that "without me, there would be no him", and he will even praise James in order to step on Jordan in the future.

Don't you think that basketball in this era is not good? Why are you chasing after James in this era? Is there still the saying that James tried his best and his opponent CBA?
In short, it’s good to just look at these external remarks. Li Sheng doesn’t bother to argue with them, but Perkins, the big mouth in the team, is held down by him.

In fact, they are also suffocating in their hearts. Whether it is the celebrities who question these, or the media and fans who think the Spurs will beat the Thunder, they all want to slap them in the face with practical actions and tell them that they are the strongest this season.

Since the regular season record can't shut their mouths, then they will win another championship, and before that, the Spurs are the biggest obstacle on their way to winning the championship.

"Okay, the game has started. The jump ball was won by the Thunder. They won the first wave of the ball. Today Li Sheng used Gobert to start. This is not Gobert's first start in the playoffs. Whether he faced the Mavericks or the Trail Blazers before, Gobert had a good performance in starting..."

Of course, Perkins has not been completely abandoned, after all, the experience of playoff veterans is still very important.

However, facing the Spurs, Li Sheng still wanted to try to see if the rookie could smash this old carriage with his impact.

Except for Gobert, the other starters remain unchanged, and the Spurs' starters also remain unchanged. Ginobili will still serve as a substitute. Gobert will face the combination of old Duncan and Splitter, so that his pressure will not be so great.

After all, the Brazilian center averaged 8 points per game in the regular season and only 7.5 points per game in the playoffs. As long as he guards against the Spurs' pick-and-rolls, his personal offensive power is not worth mentioning.

(End of this chapter)