Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 214 Offensive and defensive suppression

"The coordination of this ball is also great, right?"

The domestic forums have repeatedly discussed the cooperation of the Thunder's first goal. The Thunder fans had a great time in the playoffs. Although there were routine episodes of complaining about referees and penalties, overall, because of the Thunder's excellent performance, they felt elated.

And now playing teamwork in front of the Spurs also makes them feel too handsome and spiritual.

"I think I really have to thank the coach for this season, otherwise I would never have imagined that this is the offensive cooperation I can see in the Thunder."

"That's right. In the past, although the doubles and singles were very powerful and explosive, everyone said that relying on two people could not win the game. The fact seems to be the same. Now we finally don't have to rely on only two people, and other people can stand up!"

In fact, in Li Sheng's previous life, this time in the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder did not face with a full lineup because of Ibaka's injury in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Although in the third game after that, the Thunder, who were in a desperate situation, chose to give it a go. Ibaka also risked his career to play closed games and helped the Thunder win two home games with difficulty, but in the end they still lost the series.

At the same time, Ibaka also began to decline after this season, and then had to transform, and was eventually sent away by the Thunder.

It can be said that whether it is for Ibaka himself or the Thunder, it is a lose-lose situation.

On the contrary, it may not be a bad thing for the Spurs. After all, give them more status before the finals, so that they can perform well at the beginning of the finals.

But now, because the strength of the Thunder has been greatly strengthened compared to the same period in the previous life, the consumption of the players in the regular season is very small, and in the playoffs, Li Sheng also pays attention to the protection of the players.

In addition, after handing over the more difficult Grizzlies and Clippers to the Spurs, the Thunder faced the Blazers opponent more easily, and the series did not drag on.

On the contrary, Li Sheng needs to keep looking for them in training, so as to prevent them from being too relaxed due to too much rest, and failing to grasp the home court advantage at the beginning of the series.

Facts have proved that this is very effective, especially some of the tactics in the exercise have all come in handy.

It may also be because the Spurs have not fully adjusted after six fierce battles. After all, the age and physical strength of the core are still a bit problematic, so that they can't put too much pressure on the Thunder when they are defending.

After returning from the timeout this time, Popovich certainly had arrangements, and their rotations accelerated, especially on the flanks. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard relied on their excellent switching and assisting defenses to use their defense to destroy the Thunder's conduction of the ball.

Although it is not so easy to steal the ball directly, at least the Thunder can't connect so easily and unscrupulously. When they seek stability, some opportunities are easy to miss, so the Spurs can achieve the defensive effect they want.

However, they are still struggling on the defensive end, because when the Thunder can't conduct it, there is still an unavoidable solution, and they leave it to the superstar to solve the problem.

Durant has reached his personal best this year, and his pursuit of personal efficiency has become wider and wider.

Especially when Li Sheng asked him to start switching between with the ball and without the ball, he used his powerful projection to stretch the space. Although he could not achieve the effect of the Warriors' future Splash Brothers in the running position, because the Thunder had too many points to handle the ball.

Durant can easily receive the ball in his ideal position, so that opponents dare not let Durant go easily, and this is the effect that the Thunder are pursuing.

And when Westbrook was on the court, his inside impact on the Spurs also showed the effect very well.

After several twists and turns in the regular season, Westbrook is now very obedient. One or two offensive rounds are allowed. In most cases, he will still make judgments based on the situation on the court according to Li Sheng's arrangement.

Many people say that Westbrook's IQ is low, so he didn't prepare himself for such a rapid decline later on. In fact, Li Sheng doesn't think that a person with such a low ball can reach the MVP level.

If you don't play well or fall behind, you tend to be anxious, and when you get anxious, you are prone to problems.

This has been corrected now and has actually changed a lot, especially when there are other ball-holding points on the court. As long as the ball is not put in his hands all the time, he will not have many chances to get ahead.

And when he's in good shape, it's okay to play more by himself, and he can also attract double-teams from the help defense, so that his teammates can have opportunities again.

It's like when Harden was still there, it was always more stable than Westbrook to sort out the offense at the critical moment. Westbrook was more of a sharp edge for attacking with the ball.

It's just that with Westbrook's promotion in the low position of the team in the previous life, Durant was not good at expressing and applying pressure. Neither Brooks nor Donovan could do it. In the end, Westbrook became a double-edged sword, sometimes cutting opponents and sometimes cutting himself.

And this bad guy is now Li Shenglai, at least on the way to the championship, they will all twist together and listen to Li Sheng's words.

As for the future, for example, if we win the championship this year, whether everyone's mentality will change is almost certain. It is hard to say whether they will be so willing to obey and "sacrifice" by then.

But that's all for the future, Li Sheng's words will have different weight at that time, and if he really makes a fuss, he can also act more forcefully.

Anyway, he is not like those other coaches. The previous NBA teams built teams around players, but he will prove that coaches can also build teams around him.

You must know that in the next few years, there will be many treasures at the bottom of the draft, and Li Sheng has never doubted President Pu's ability to accumulate draft picks. With his cooperation, the rookie benefits alone will be enough for the Thunder in the next few years. Why should we worry about this player's conflicts?
I could replace all of you anytime!

Not to mention, back to the present.

Westbrook frequently uses his breakthroughs to cause damage, but this time there is another difference from the previous life. The Thunder's record is better. The first in the regular season is still the best record in history. Naturally, they enjoy home court advantage in the Western Conference Finals.

Not to mention that the league doesn't like the Spurs very much, even if they are the defending champions, and even if they are the defending champions, they are even more supportive of the Thunder. The stronger team has an advantage in penalties at home, and it is expected to take the lead in the first quarter.

Of course, this lead is not much, and the Spurs still seem very tenacious.

At 33:29, the Thunder temporarily led the Spurs by 4 points at home.

In the first quarter, Durant hadn't exerted his strength yet, so he handed over the stage more to Westbrook and the others. Westbrook can play by himself or pass the ball to his teammates. No one in the Spurs can match his speed.

Their defense switching can actually be limited to a certain extent, but looking at the starting lineup of the Thunder, Ibaka, Durant and Sefolosha can all stretch out beyond the three-point line, leaving a lot of space in the middle for Westbrook to break through.

Li Sheng has always felt that when the Thunder played against the Spurs, the Warriors, or any other team in their previous life, there was a problem that the role players could not keep up with their opponents. Then some people thought that the Thunder's rotation was not good.

It's not good, but it's not that bad. It's better to say that the stars have done everything they should and should not do, so that the role players can only defend.

But no matter how good your defense is, if someone's offense can penetrate you, what can you do, not to mention that Westbrook and Durant still had defensive weaknesses at that time, which became more obvious at critical moments.

And even on the offensive end, the Thunder's core mistakes at critical moments are often far more fatal.

Now that others are given more opportunities to dominate the ball, because the defensive heavy forces are dispersed by the core, the team's mistakes are not so easy.

Another difference is that the Thunder now attach great importance to three-pointers. In the Warriors team in the Western Conference Finals in 16, Durant was almost the only one who could shoot three-pointers.

And it was supposed to be an opportunity to turn their rebounding advantage into an offensive advantage, but because two points were one point less than three points, they repeatedly lost in this area.

Regardless of the controversy and physical factors, the Thunder was really defeated by their "backward" style of play.

And it is said that the rebounds are stronger and the inside line is better, but at the critical moment, the Warriors have no physical strength, but they can grab offensive rebounds repeatedly, and if they fail to make a three-pointer once, they will do it again.

Why can't the Thunder play like this?
Regarding this point, Li Sheng feels that Donovan, the head coach, has to blame something. The academy is too traditional and ignores the changes of the times.

It is better to keep up with the trend of play, just like the opposite Spurs, Popovich said he hates three-pointers, the Spurs shoot a lot of three-pointers, and there is never a shortage of three-point marksmen.

Last year's Green, Gary Neal, Mills, this year's Belinelli, and even Bonner and Diaw can shoot three-pointers. Coupled with the operation of their system, the shooting advantages of role players can be used. Isn't the offensive efficiency high?
The later Warriors were more or less inspired by the Spurs. After all, Cole was also Popovich's disciple to a certain extent.

And now Li Sheng is "stealing the teacher in advance".

Of course, what he relied on was not to recruit players, but to cheat.

The shooting that is not as good as it is, relying on three-point cards, template cards, and shooting training cards, has raised Ibaka, Antetokounmpo, Ennis, and Robertson to the point where they can advance if they need them.

And as the schedule progresses, the results of their training will become more prominent. Li Sheng even feels that if they reach the finals, they may be able to directly copy the performance of the Spurs in their previous life.

Anyway, the injured are the Heat...

Thinking about it this way, the current game is still more important, and the first quarter can't explain anything.

After entering the rotation contest, the Spurs also began to show their lineup advantages after regular season training, and began to chase points bravely under the leadership of Ginobili.

However, the Thunder's inside line is not weak at all. Perkins serves as a substitute, which is a bit like a big one with four small ones, while Antetokounmpo is just "small" in his style of play, and he is not afraid of opponents in terms of size.

The point is that the Spurs are actually playing small ball now. They don't have many low-post offenses, and the lethality inside is actually not very sufficient. Duncan, who should have performed well in this game, was restricted by Ibaka and Gobert in the first quarter, and he did not perform well.

And the three-point point they should have exploded was also affected by the Thunder's tight and terrible rotation defense, and they only played a normal level.

The reason why role players are called role players is because they can't do things like stars ignoring defensive goals. They need good opportunities, especially open opportunities.

On the Thunder side, Durant is there after Westbrook is off the court, and Antetokounmpo is also there when Durant is not there.

After winning the best rookie, Antetokounmpo is now full of confidence, and facing Green and Leonard who trained together in the Holy City training camp during the offseason in the Western Conference finals, he is also eager to announce to them how much he has improved now.

Although most of the time he still honestly played tactics according to Li Sheng's arrangement, but when there was a chance to single Leonard in the low post, Antetokounmpo did not let it go.

Then, of course, he didn't score.

However, Li Sheng did not criticize him directly, but told him that courage is worth encouraging, but he should play smarter next time.

The current gap between Antetokounmpo and Leonard is still too big. Although Leonard's offense has not yet been fully developed, on the defensive end, he already has some prototypes of the best defensive player.

The main reason is that now he is not the absolute arrow of the Spurs' offense. The pressure on offense is not so great, but he can fully devote himself to defense, which also makes him a great defensive deterrent.

Of course, it's also because Antetokounmpo's current strength is not enough, especially in personal offense. Although he won the best rookie, thanks to Li Sheng's tactical arrangements and the Thunder's system, he has a lot of moisture. If he is allowed to play alone, his efficiency will definitely not be so high.

Just like there was a ball in exactly the same position in the first quarter, Durant easily scored against Leonard.

Fortunately, the Thunder are still in the lead now, and it’s not a big problem to miss a ball occasionally, as long as the defensive end finds it back.

Five minutes into the middle of the second quarter, the score was 5:46, and the Thunder temporarily led by 41 points. The Spurs' offense was their most powerful weapon. Even with the Thunder's defensive ability, they couldn't limit them too much.

However, Li Sheng seemed full of confidence, because there was still a problem with the Spurs behind him, and that was physical strength.

From Popovich's arrangement for Duncan in this game, it can be seen that the first quarter ended early, and the second quarter has not been brought up yet. Obviously, he hopes to bet on the second half when the score is stalemate in the first half. Therefore, the core must retain its physical strength to deal with critical moments.

However, Li Sheng's plan is that there are many dreams in the night, it is best not to have a critical moment.

(End of this chapter)