Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 22
The game fell into chaos from the very beginning, and the opposing player was the small point guard Isaiah Cannan, the No. 34 rookie this year. At least he knew how to make more use of the big man's pick-and-roll, but his coordination was not good and he only had eyes for the basket. This is a common problem for rookie point guards.

His shooting is mediocre, and he is too short to kill the basket. After all, although he is 183 tall, he is not that 183, so his shooting percentage is not high, but the Thunder can't seize the opportunity to counterattack.

On the Thunder side, Li Sheng sent an unexpected "big five lineup", Ennis, Robertson, Antetokounmpo, Gobert, and free agent Gomez.

The five people are all around two meters tall, and they can completely cover Kannan, and except for Gobert, they can barely keep up with their footsteps.

It is worth noting that the personal defense of these five players is not weak, and Robertson and Antetokounmpo rely on mobile sweeps to help defend, and even without much joint training, they have achieved a good tacit effect.

This is also an important reason why the opponent's offense is blocked. If someone with better organizational skills comes over, maybe their airs will be punctured soon, but Kannan's pass key seems to be broken, and he doesn't want to hand over the ball unless he has to.

But it's a pity that good defense didn't get points in exchange, because this lineup is too urgent on the offensive end.

Li Sheng directly let Antetokounmpo play the role of point guard and let him hold the ball to decide the offense, but Antetokounmpo's performance was a bit disappointing.

Of course, the small strong team does not have a good defense, but Antetokounmpo's opponent is a typical black and tough, who likes to entangle with his body. Antetokounmpo is very uncomfortable under his pressure. He made two turnovers and one foul within 1 minute.

Then Antetokounmpo was about to start calling pick-and-rolls, probably because they were in a foreign land. Antetokounmpo and Gobert had a good relationship at the beginning, and the inside line definitely needed the cooperation of players with the ball to play a role.

In fact, it's not just them. The Thunder's four rookies seem to get along well. After all, they have just entered the league, and they are naturally used to hugging for warmth.

The NBA also pays attention to local power, seniority, seniority, etc. Newcomers join the team to serve the team's old people, and they are usually led by the old players to integrate into the team. However, as the salaries of rookies are getting higher and higher. The exposure is getting higher and higher, and this "tradition" gradually diminishes.

Therefore, most of the rookies in the same class have a relatively good relationship. Personal relationships like the "09 duo" who are very controversial among fans are very good, not to mention they are in the same class and on the same team like them.

This is a bit like the same year in ancient China, the same subject, and then went to the Imperial Academy together, the relationship is generally the same.

The pick-and-roll can be said to be the most basic tactic in basketball games. Generally, the insiders come out to help the ball-handler block people. The ball-handler can choose to shoot openly, can choose to break through to the basket, or look for an open pass after the "split" is opened, or directly pass back to the pick-and-roll man who has an opportunity.

The most classic pick-and-roll is the Utah Jazz's "Black and White Shuangsha", the combination of Malone and Stockton. The pick-and-roll can be described as their big killer.

Relying on this trick, they have made their name in the league for more than ten years. Unfortunately, they have never won a championship because of too many crimes. In the end, Malone even left the Jazz to chase the championship.

And Stockton was also disheartened after Malone left, "You betrayed my love and left behind my back, and I was left alone and couldn't play", and then chose to retire.

However, Coach Sloan found De-Paul's nemesis-Long and Boozer later, and played the signature pick-and-roll well. In the end, he had a disagreement with Deron and left disheartened.

"You betrayed my love and forced me to leave, and you can't return to the top if you leave in the end." After the master and apprentice separated, they were frustrated. Of course, it is generally believed that Delong's problems are bigger, and he "deserves it".

Back on the court, although the pick-and-roll is simple, anyone can use it, but whether to use it or not depends on the player's ability.

Just like Antetokounmpo and Gobert changed defenders in a pick-and-roll, but Antetokounmpo found it difficult for him to break into the opponent's short and mobile inside line, and he had no shooting ability to pass Gobert back.

Come back in the next round. This time under the instruction of Li Sheng, the others increased their running. Antetokounmpo found an empty cut and passed the ball to Robertson who was open under the basket. Robertson easily dunked and added an assist.

However, there are not many such opportunities. The opponent's defense is not tight, but their cooperation is not tacit enough, and Antetokounmpo still cannot control his mistakes.

The most important thing is that the opponent let him go open and shot two shots. Maybe he was too nervous, or maybe he just fought too much muscle fatigue, and he was actually hit hard.

当李圣最终将字母哥换下来的时候，他的数据是4投1中罚球2罚2中得到4分4篮板2助攻5失误。

At this time, the score on the court was Thunder 21:26. The point difference was not widened, but it could only be said that the game was pecking at each other.

The Thunder's most eye-catching performance was Ryan Gomez, who made 3 three-pointers, scored 13 points and 3 assists, without turnovers.

Gomez made his debut in the 05 draft. He played for the Celtics, Timberwolves and Clippers. He performed poorly with the Clippers last season. He didn't get a contract extension and became a free agent. He joined the Thunder's summer league team and prepared to win a new contract.

Such players actually shine in the summer league, which also shows the gold content of the summer league.

And the lottery show, who didn't perform well under such circumstances, naturally had a bigger psychological gap.

So Antetokounmpo sat alone in the corner and bowed his head after he left the field, and he could see that he felt a little uncomfortable.

Not only was he feeling uncomfortable, but he was sweating profusely, as if he had played the whole court.

But Li Sheng ignored him. He knew that with Brother Antetokounmpo's character, others' encouragement was fine, but comfort was unnecessary. He could come out on his own, and hardships would only make him stronger.

He also came from a poor family, but unlike many black single families in the United States, Antetokounmpo belongs to a big family with both parents and many brothers. From the fact that all five of their brothers were able to thrive, it can be seen that their family is much better than imagined.

The education Antetokounmpo received from an early age also allowed him to develop a tenacious character, so he was able to remain strong and optimistic when he was alone overseas, and then survived the most difficult time and ushered in his own success.

Li Sheng is not afraid that Antetokounmpo's performance on the field is not good, because this is expected.

Not to mention him, the insiders of the current team have a lot of expectations for Antetokounmpo, but they are not as sure as Li Sheng.

This is all because of the physical examinations that rookies did when they joined the team. On the one hand, this physical examination is to test physical talents, including static ones such as height and wingspan, and dynamic ones such as jumping, speed, strength, etc. On the other hand, it is to check whether there are any diseases.

Not all NBA players are physically the same as Superman. They will be injured, and of course they will be sick. Most of them are congenital or have been overcome or delayed before entering the league.

For example, star player Aldridge has heart disease, Harden has asthma, McGrady has spinal problems, Adu has skin diseases, is that "snake scale"...

Of course, there are still a small number of people who are sick or do not affect their playing. Few people fail the physical examination because of illness.

For rookies, to detect their potential, of course, not only look at these "external" performances, but also some invisible things, such as "bone age".

(End of this chapter)