Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 32 The Eagles Attack
Oladipo has played a superstar-level performance in this summer league. Not only is he outstanding in physical fitness, he has a dunk king-level bounce and a good basket. The only flaw is probably that as the second position, his height of only 193 in shoes is slightly insufficient.

When he picked and rolled, it happened that Gobert switched to him. The current Gobert is not the best defensive player in the future, not to mention that he will have no way to face this kind of dislocation in the future. Audi has an absolute speed advantage. If he double-teams, he can still pass the ball.

In this way, two fouls were made, another assist was made, and at the same time, he stepped back and hit a long three-pointer. All 9 consecutive points were related to him, and he also led the Magic to temporarily lead the Thunder by 3 points.

Li Sheng decisively called a timeout, ready to change his defensive strategy.

Now that the players have developed a certain tacit understanding after several games, there is no need to stick to the rules, and a slightly more complicated tactic can be considered, especially when facing opponents with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

Whether it's a deliberate tactic, or other people really don't have the ability to dominate the ball, anyway, the Magic's ball is in the hands of Oladipo. In this case, it is natural to take a targeted defense against him.

One is zone defense, which can effectively block passing routes while limiting breakthroughs.

This kind of defensive players must have played before, but they haven't practiced it now, and they must not cooperate so skillfully, but they can still use it if they want.

The other is timely and effective double-teaming, because Oladipo habitually goes to the left to break through, and the defensive center of gravity can also be shifted to this side appropriately, so that even if he double-teams and divides the ball, he can ensure that no open opportunities appear in the first time.

Of course, this kind of defense has high requirements for the team, so there are certainly some omissions in the defense, but at least it is an effective constraint, reducing the efficiency of the opponent's core.

Looking back, the Thunder's offense was much smoother. Even because of the successful defense, they played more fast breaks and had fewer chances. They quickly overtook the score and opened up the gap to 6 points.

In the 8th minute of the game, the score of the two teams was 25:31, with the Thunder behind.

The offensive success rate of the two teams is actually very high, but the gap in defense is too big. Antetokounmpo played well today.

Objectively speaking, of course Antetokounmpo's strength has not increased. His mentality change in this game is one aspect, but the opponent's lineup flaws are also an important reason.

To put it bluntly, the Magic's temporarily formed Summer League team is basically a shooting team. Except for Audi's breakthrough, including the center, they are all "soft guys" who pull outside to shoot; and on the defensive end, there is no way to create any physical trouble for the Thunder.

The Thunder team has a group of jumpers with fast speed, good bounce, and full of vitality. They have natural advantages in rebounding and fast breaks. The Magic can't compare with Oladipo alone.

Audi's single defense is actually passable. In the end, he got anxious and even asked to defend Antetokounmpo, but the height gap between the two was too big. Although Antetokounmpo was difficult to shoot under his interference, he couldn't stop him from passing the ball.

Moreover, Antetokounmpo may be worse than other players in confrontation, but at this time Audi is also a thin figure, so he has a slightly stronger foot, but if Antetokounmpo is squeezed to the basket, there is no way to prevent him except to pull him down.

As a result, there was a situation where Antetokounmpo and his opponent faced each other on the field. On the offensive end, Antetokounmpo did not make a strong shot against Oladipo's defense, but on the contrary, he was able to divide the ball and assist in time after attracting help defenses;

Of course, that is, the efficiency has been reduced, and the goals that should be scored still have to be scored.

From then on until halftime, the two sides went through several rotations. Li Sheng deployed troops and made various arrangements here, but the Magic side remained unmoved. Audi played around him on the court, and everyone fought together when he was off the court.

If it weren't for the good outside shooting rate today, the point difference would have been widened long ago.

But Oladipo also hit a buzzer before midfield, and the Magic temporarily trailed the Thunder by 46 points 55:9.

Judging from the first half alone, the Thunder's offensive performance has obviously recovered, mainly because Antetokounmpo has found an offensive feel.

I have to say that this kid is indeed very smart, and he played very smart today, probably because he was born as a point guard, and the blood of the organization flows in his bones, so that he can judge the situation and find a good opportunity for his teammates without forcing the shot himself.

In the first two games, Li Sheng had consciously arranged for the Eagles to play more offensively, that is, the first, second and fourth positions were screened and passed. The difference was that the Thunder's ball-handling brother Antetokounmpo was actually on the fourth position.

So an extra coordination is added here, that is, after Antetokounmpo and Gomez made a single-block screen near the weak side's 45-degree three-point line to create a misplaced position, Antetokounmpo began to switch to the opponent's third position.

Then Gobert came up at this time and made an off-ball screen for Ennis at the second position to help him cut to the basket.

If the defender is blocked, Antetokounmpo can pass directly to Ennis under the basket at this time, and he will easily have a chance to face an empty basket.

If the opponent follows the defense in time, Ennis will take the defender away to the other side, while Antetokounmpo chooses to continue to rush to the basket, attracting the help defense to double-team and immediately pass the ball to Gobert.

Gobert is a point where opponents can let go, but he may still attract defense when he dribbles the ball to the basket when he is open.

And if the perimeter defender pulled away by Gomez on the other side shrinks, he can naturally distribute the ball to Gomez, and then he can rush to the basket to grab an offensive rebound.

This link has certain requirements for Antetokounmpo and Gobert's two points of dominating the ball. Fortunately, both of them can hold high and play high, and their basketball literacy from European leagues is still much better than that of ordinary old blacks.

It's a pity that Brother Antetokounmpo fell into a self-violent circle and performed poorly, so he couldn't play this offense.

But they achieved good results in the first half. Mistakes are of course inevitable. Even a team that cooperates tacitly cannot guarantee that every tactic can be executed in place, but being able to play tactic is a boost to the confidence of the players.

Moreover, the score was leading on the field, and they also had an advantage. When they were off the field, the faces of the players were very excited, including Gomez, who seemed to have no previous grievances.

During the half-time break, Li Sheng asked them to rest first. At this moment, the brain is hypoxic after strenuous exercise, so they may not remember what they said, so I will remind them later when they are going to play again.

On the contrary, Jalen Collins has implemented his advice and has been actively building a good relationship with the players.

Maybe it's his own experience, but he doesn't have any special preferences, and he doesn't have any special attitude towards rookies just because he has confirmed his position. He treats everyone equally, which is good.

And Amy Udoka discussed with Li Sheng some problems that arose in the first half, and the two had a collision of ideas, and Li Sheng could summarize it for them later.

"Hey, can I sit here?"

At this time, Li Sheng suddenly heard a strange voice, frowned and turned his head, then he was taken aback.

He finally knew why no one around him stopped him, because other people around him were as surprised as he was, and a little...surprised.

That is, Russell Westbrook!
(End of this chapter)