Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 222 20
In fact, the cracking is not very accurate. Li Sheng didn't crack the Spurs' tactics, and he didn't think it was necessary to crack.

Because as long as the Thunder play their own form, they are not afraid of the Spurs themselves.

The Spurs' lineup and players' personal abilities are actually still far behind the Thunder's. They rely on a mature system and ball transfer, but the Thunder can just be limited in this regard.

And this limitation does not mean that Li Sheng has any subtle defensive tactics-even if the tacit understanding and awareness requirements of the pair of players are relatively high, and the Thunder are not all defensive elites, of course it is impossible to do it.

And purely relying on talent to suppress, especially the defensive destructiveness of the flanks, cut off a very important flank transmission for the Spurs, making many of their tactical coordination from 45-degree angles on both sides impossible to play.

If we only talk about offense, Durant is better at the Thunder's front line, but when it comes to defense, or comprehensive offense and defense, Robertson, Antetokounmpo, Ibaka, and even Ennis can all be counted. This should also be second to none in the league.

It's up to them to add strength to the opponent, and Leonard alone can't stand it.

Green is a defender, Ginobili is old and his legs and feet can't keep up. In fact, there is only Diao as a substitute striker, but he is not very good at defense.

The Spurs' lineup obviously has weaknesses. This weakness is actually a defect of many teams in this era, that is, the lack of lineup reserves on the front line.

In the future, with the rise of the Warriors basketball, the proportion of three-pointers will increase significantly, and the inside big center will be further weakened, and the importance of the striker will become more and more prominent. Some teams may even have two full striker lineups, but the effect is not easy to say.

But generally speaking, it can still be seen that the importance of the striker in the game, whether it is offense or defense, is getting higher and higher, and more and more future stars will appear in the striker position.

So didn’t someone say that in the small ball era, it’s not the guards who benefit the most, but the strikers. This can be seen by looking at the players who will perform best in the finals in the future. Counting from 15, the forward position has monopolized the FMVP for seven consecutive years.

The FMVP for the previous three consecutive years was also a small forward. Although Curry won the FMVP in the next 22 years, if you look at it according to the 15-year standard, Wiggins and Iguodala are not much different.

Li Sheng has armed the Thunder in advance. The offense has three points, and the defense is coupled with the rotation of the striker. It can be changed infinitely. It is equivalent to playing a warrior-like basketball in advance. Under similar rules, it is a dimensionality reduction attack. How does the Spurs compare?
If it was Shi Buddha who was a few years younger, or Leonard who was a few years old, maybe he could still wrestle with such a thunderbolt, but now it is obviously not enough.

At the end of the half, the Thunder's lead had expanded to 15 points. In this quarter, their defensive efforts allowed the Spurs to score only 22 points, but the Thunder scored another 32 points. The offensive performance was very stable.

At this time, the Spurs fans felt that the general trend was over, and posting in their own area on the forum seemed very pessimistic.

"I don't think it's possible to win consecutively. The Thunder team is too strong this year."

"I didn't think Durant was so good before. Westbrook doesn't seem to be as strong as before, but why is the Thunder so strong? They can't beat them at all."

"Are you kidding me? Don't you understand the concept of 72 wins? It can be said that when the Thunder finally chose to take turns to practice the lineup, there is no suspense for this season's championship."

"I can't beat it, but I'm still a little unwilling. It's been the last few years. Thinking that the Thunder are still so young, do we still have hope to win another championship?"

"Fuck, it would be great if Li Sheng didn't leave. Brother Antetokounmpo couldn't think of it, but one of Gobert or Robertson, and then Ennis may at least have one of them who can come to our team."

"Who would give up the opportunity to be the head coach? And although I also think that Li Sheng has a lot to do with it, the players are still playing well. Our lineup is indeed a bit worse."

"..."

Thunder fans (Dewey fans) and some domestic fans who supported the Thunder because of Li Sheng are naturally rejoicing at this time. It is common for fans to open champagne at halftime, not to mention that the Thunder is actually the one that has the upper hand. It would be a surprise if they lost.

The commentators from various countries talked about the competition between the two teams at halftime, and they also felt that the Thunder had the upper hand, but the Spurs showed their old age.

This is not only in terms of age and physical strength, but their tactics do not seem to have the desired effect on the Thunder.

"The Spurs run the ball fast, but the Thunder's defensive rotation seems to be faster. In general, the Thunder can limit the Spurs' offense. Although they can't completely limit it, the Spurs obviously can't limit the Thunder's offense. Their offensive points, passes and cuts have changed too much..."

In the final analysis, it is still the crushing of talent. When the two sides are evenly matched in skills and tactics, it is the talent that determines the upper limit. Obviously, the Thunder is the one that has the upper hand.

At the end of the third quarter, the Thunder's lead had reached 27 points. There was no suspense in this game. The Spurs should consider how to adjust after returning to the home court. If they adjust in time and keep two home courts, they may still have a chance.

In the fourth quarter, the main players on both sides played only two or three minutes. Seeing that the Thunder was still in full condition, Popovich had no choice but to replace the players.

At this time, it seems that their victory or defeat can be seen from the expressions on the benches on both sides. Although sometimes they are more serious when the Spurs win, they still laugh when they should laugh.

That's just fine, at least Duncan doesn't have to worry about being called a technical foul.

At the end of the game, the Thunder defeated the Spurs by 111:87 and 24 points at home, temporarily leading the series 2:0.

Durant and Westbrook did not take many shots this time, but their efficiency was good. Both scored 20+ points, except that their Thunder scored more averagely.

As for the Spurs, Danny Green scored the most points. He scored 12 points on 7 of 21 three-pointers.

帕克15中7拿到16分，邓肯14投6中得到15分，其他五人得分上双。

For the Spurs, this kind of offensive efficiency can already be said to be out of order.

But anyone who has watched the game knows that they may have reasons for their own state, but the Thunder's defense also put a lot of pressure on them, which made them even a little timid in the second half.

The Spurs organized several counterattacks at any rate in the last game. If Durant hadn't stood up to stabilize the morale of the army, the outcome of the game is unknown.

But there was no suspense from the beginning to the end of this game. The fans who originally wanted to refute some people who thought that the two teams had no chance to play had nothing to say at this time.

(End of this chapter)