Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 94 Home
It has to be said that a team with doubles and minors is definitely a strong team. Although basketball is a team sport of five players, the influence of individuals is much stronger than that of football. Firstly, there are fewer people playing, and secondly, the field is smaller. Players' individual physical talents are more obviously crushed.

But in the past, the Thunder often overturned weak teams, and often even played very stalemate.

For example, the famous double-young battles against Love and the double-young magicians. Although Dewey's personal data is very explosive, and the scenes of the game are also pretty good, but it also exposed many problems of the team.

The defense of a really strong team will not be bad. Occasionally, of course, there will be overturns, but they can basically score points against weak teams.

As long as the core state is okay, there will be no obvious holes in the game.

But the Thunder often have the performance of "you are stronger and I am stronger, and you are weak and I am weaker". This is definitely a problem on both ends of the offense and defense, and it is also a part that Brooks did not do well as a coach.

The head coach needs to adjust the offense and defense of the players, especially on the defensive end, but the Thunder has always been unable to defend against off-ball and even three-pointers. It was not until Donovan arrived that it improved.

If all the players are not able to participate in the offense, it is tantamount to wasting the physical strength of the two young players, and then looking back on the defensive end, they need teammates to wipe the buttocks of the two young players who are not physically strong enough and inattentive.

These cannot be viewed in isolation, because there will be a chain reaction between offense and defense.

In a game or a team, it is impossible for you to completely separate the offense and defense, because on the court, one momentum and one state are all important. Sometimes if you defend well, it will help you to open up the offense. If you play well in offense, you will be more passionate about defense in retrospect.

The problem that the Thunder often made in the past is probably that the players always only want to do their part well, or even make their part to the extreme. As a result, everyone can't fully play their role.

This must have something to do with the head coach. If the head coach can emphasize more and propose some solutions to the problem, it is impossible that there will be no improvement at all.

What's more, the Thunder can play well without superstars later, which must be the reason for the coach's tactical reserves.

At the very least, everyone in the team can contribute when needed and try to play what everyone is good at, but it doesn't mean they don't do anything in other parts.

After all, if everyone does a little more, in the end, everyone can actually save more effort.

Of course, the current team's style of play is still in its infancy. Facing weak teams doesn't explain any problems. Only when strong teams confront tough teams can they discover problems.

However, Durant also believes that this is just the beginning. With the running-in of the team and the integration and growth of new players, even without Westbrook, they will be very competitive.

Of course, journalists can't help but continue to pick things up.

Before, they all liked to talk about what would happen to the Thunder without Westbrook, and they were not optimistic about the future of the Thunder.

But after the Thunder started the game and won two consecutive victories, they didn't care whether they were facing a weak team. Instead, they began to praise the Thunder, Li Sheng and Durant, and then belittle Westbrook's role overtly and secretly.

To put it bluntly, it is a topic of controversy.

Anyway, good or bad depends on their mouths, and most of the fans follow the rhythm. When encountering this situation, they will discuss various things. Some people even really think that Westbrook doesn't seem to be that important anymore.

In the "Thunder Zone" of the forum, some people even began to discuss the value of Westbrook's transaction.

"Although I like Russell very much, if the team can perform as well without him, I suggest the team trade him for someone more suitable for the team."

"I doubted KD before, but now I apologize. Maybe Weiss is the one who is really holding back. KD is not Mr. Unreliable, but he carries the team away, and finally has no physical strength to output anymore."

"I like the rookies of the team very much. Coach Li is really great. His vision is amazing. It is not surprising that the three are all high-ranked draft picks, and they are still rookies for three years apart. Giannis and the others are in the same class, and neither of them is a lottery pick."
"I like James' hard work. Although he didn't have a lot of opportunities to perform in these two games, he worked hard on the defensive end, could grasp the open space, and had a certain ability to hold the ball. I think he is more suitable for us than Jeremy..."

"Perkins is too old and too slow. He should give up his position to Gobert now. The Frenchman's performance is great. Is he here to help us win the 'War of Independence'?"
Of course, the fans will watch the game rationally. They will affirm Westbrook's value, and at the same time look forward to the Thunder's lineup after Megatron returns from injury.

But in many cases, there are not many voices of reason, but more of a silent majority, which is then represented by those who speak out.

Of course, most team secretaries and Westbrook will definitely not agree with this opinion. Those who really support these arguments are only some extreme Durant fans.

These remarks are not only popular on the Internet, but also discussed on TNT's NBA behind-the-scenes show.

It seems that they are also eyeing the hot spot of Thunder, and they don't want to catch a sheep to pluck the wool, but the topic of Thunder is too hot, so they don't want to rub it for nothing.

However, this episode of the program seems more sensible. First, it affirmed Westbrook's value, and second, it also felt that the Thunder's performance at the beginning of the game was not because of how strong they are now, but because of their opponents.

And if the current momentum is followed, the Thunder's winning streak may continue, but this is also because the schedule is too good. You have to wait until you actually meet your first strong opponent and see the results to know how good the team is now.

This is actually a kind of preview. According to the Thunder's schedule, they will finally return to their home court for the first home game of the season. They will face the Suns and another Western Conference team.

After Nash left, the Suns also began a long period of struggle. It was not until Paul arrived that they made the playoffs and quickly became the favorite team for the championship. During this period, the Suns were almost bullied.

Their team lineup this season is not very competitive at first glance, and one of the characteristics of the Suns is that the inside line is not prominent and there are too many guards, especially the three-guard lineup that makes fans suffer from cerebral hemorrhage. Their three guards are at least enough in size. Who are they?
Dragic, Bledsoe, and Shannon Brown, the three-pointers of these three are not very stable, or the three-pointers of the Suns team are not very stable. There is veteran Marshall who can hit 12 three-pointers in a single game, but there are also Morris and Blood Cloth who can shoot 0 three-pointers in a row.

The only thing worth mentioning about this team is probably the combination of the Morris Brothers. The strength of this pair of brothers is not weak, and it is even relatively balanced among the brother groups of NBA teams.

Of course, this balance means that they do not rely on top and bottom, and they are stable mid-range players. They cannot become stars or lose contracts.

And the Suns seem to like to find this kind of brother combination. After that, there will be Dragic brothers, Plumlee brothers, etc. It feels like the manager has a collection habit.

However, this can also reflect the chaos of the Suns management, and of course it has something to do with the fact that the Suns boss is relatively poor.

(End of this chapter)