NBA: Duncan feels uneasy coaching Warriors

Chapter 173 Timberwolves' pre-match team building
The next day.

After the Timberwolves eliminated the Warriors and advanced, the matchup in the Western Conference has already come out.

The Western Conference Finals match between the Spurs and the Timberwolves was something that many people did not expect.

To be precise, it is normal for the Spurs to advance to the Western Conference Finals. After all, the Spurs were the team with the first odds before the game.

The Timberwolves rushed all the way to the Western Conference Finals, which many people did not expect.

Everyone has always thought that the Timberwolves are the dark horse to the Western Conference Finals, but in fact, the Timberwolves are the second in the Western Conference during the regular season.

In the West, the West [-]st beats the West [-]nd. In addition, the games in the East also solved the opponents within five games, and the East also played the East [-]st against the East [-]nd.

This time, in the finals of the Eastern and Western Conference, there was no dark polo team, and they were all first and second.

But the general public regards the Timberwolves, the second team in the West, as if they were hit by a black eight.

Because the Timberwolves have always been questioned and have not been favored.

Even Timberwolves fans are used to it, claiming that they reached the Western Conference Finals with Black Two.

The official lineup is also out.

West: San Antonio Spurs VS Minnesota Timberwolves.

East: Indiana Pacers VS Miami Heat.

Before the game officially started, the most popular topic was the forward-looking topic.

To say that the biggest topic among them is the Timberwolves.

There is no other reason.

Although they are all the top two teams in the East and West, the other three teams are all strong teams that have proven themselves in the past seasons.

Even the relatively less luxurious Pacers reached the tiebreaker against the Heat last season.

The Heat have been in the playoffs every year since they were formed, which doesn't need much introduction.

Not to mention the Spurs, a very standard old-fashioned strong team, basically every season is at the championship level.

Except for the Timberwolves who reached the Western Conference Finals during Garnett's time, most of the time they were a team outside the playoffs. They have been weak for too long.

So much so that everyone feels that the Timberwolves team cannot be changed with a few veterans and a champion coach.

But now the Timberwolves are on the stage of the Western Conference Finals.

But at this time, espn published an article analyzing the Timberwolves.

"Stepping into the ranks of a strong team, or the essence of a pseudo-strong team, analyzes the Timberwolves' promotion path. "

The ESPN reporter pointed out in the article that the opponents the Timberwolves have encountered in the playoffs along the way are actually not really a test for the Timberwolves.

Facing the Blazers in the first round, although they played a sweep, the Blazers themselves are not a strong team.

The Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves are actually similar. They were both teams outside the playoffs last season, and they are in the same category.

The Blazers have risen suddenly this season, but they seem to be a low-profile version of the Warriors.

They seem to want to imitate the way the Warriors won the championship last season and created a three-point system.

Then it happened that Su Chen had a deep research on the three-point system, and happened to hit a weakness.

Moreover, the entire system of the Timberwolves seems to be built for the three-point system, and each position can cause a lot of interference to the outside line.

The same goes for the Warriors.

The Timberwolves built a lineup for this system, and Su Chen himself was born in the three-point system, which is basically a perfect target.

It can be said that the Timberwolves met the two opponents they most wanted to meet in the playoffs.

Although the Warriors are the defending champions, their tactics and lineup have been targeted by the Timberwolves' tactics.

It is equivalent to the two opponents that the Timberwolves have encountered so far, one is the low-profile version of the Warriors, and the other is the Warriors.

The ESPN reporter put forward a statement that the Minnesota lineup itself was built to target the Warriors' system, but the Warriors' system happened to be able to suppress other traditional lineups.

"So is there such a possibility that reducing the low-post defense inside will be suppressed when they face traditional teams that pass the ball faster and can cooperate with point guards and centers?"

'It's not just the Spurs they will face in the next round, if this Timberwolves meet the Clippers ahead of schedule, they are likely to be eliminated by the Clippers. '

ESPN reporters expressed their views in the article.

As soon as this statement came out, many people immediately felt that it was quite reasonable.

The Timberwolves team has too many forwards. When faced with the classic pick-and-roll of traditional point guards and traditional insiders, the defense of the two forwards seems to be impeccable at any time. live.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's defensive area is quite large, and his speed of sweeping the interior is very fast, which makes him have a strong sense of presence in the face of a team like the Warriors and Trail Blazers.

But if Giannis Antetokounmpo is single-pointed against a top insider singles, it will be difficult to parry.

Although the Timberwolves still have Ibaka, Ibaka is often blown up against Duncan. He has always been very poor in defensive effect against strong back-up singles.

It's also not just that the inside line will be blasted at a single point. After the pick-and-roll, Parker, as a point guard, can also make a shot at the first time through his own speed.

The striker is fast and can protect the frame.

But relatively, the speed is not top-notch, and the frame protection is not top-notch either.

If it is Duncan and Parker at their peak, they can be said to be top-notch insiders and top-notch outsiders.

Even the current old Duncan and old Parker, relying on the front line to play a perfect defense, it is easy to have a situation where they want to defend on both ends but can't defend on both ends.

Such a statement is not only recognized by the general audience.

Those who support this statement more are Spurs fans and Clippers fans.

Especially the Clippers fans, with the abilities of Paul and the inside twin towers, wouldn't it be easy to beat the Timberwolves?
Is the infinite switch defense against the Clippers' extreme inside offense, or against Paul's mid-range shot?

"If we meet an opponent like the Timberwolves along the way, won't we also be able to advance to the Western Conference Finals?"

"It can only be said that the Timberwolves' one move is really good in the regular season. They can reach such a good ranking, otherwise they will basically meet us for nothing."

"Ibaka or Giannis, who can switch defenses to defend Paul?"

Many Clippers fans also commented below the article.

Even the Clippers fans who were eliminated early can be so arrogant, not to mention the mentality of the Spurs fans now.

They are very confident in their home team.

The combination of Duncan and Parker will be unrivaled when facing the Timberwolves.

At the same time, Leonard has now become the team's third scorer, and even to a certain extent, Parker can occasionally replace the position of the second scorer.

Green's single defense effect on Giannis also gave the Spurs a lot of reference.

Leonard will not be inferior to Green in terms of strength, height and wingspan, as well as defensive awareness and defensive focus.

Even better.

San Antonio.

There is still more than a day left before the start of G1.

The Timberwolves have already arrived in the city of San Antonio.

At this time, the training camp was supposed to be held in the arena, but everything that needed to be arranged was arranged, so Su Chen directly canceled today's tactical training.

With tactical notes and mock glasses, there is no need for such a temporary training camp.

Even Su Chen directly used the team's funds to charter a tour boat and toured the River Walk in San Antonio.

Sometimes basketball isn't everything.

Being too nervous in the face of a strong team is not conducive to the team's performance.

Su Chen still remembered that in the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics were beaten [-]-[-] against the Heat who rushed out of the black eight.

Horford suggested that the coach cancel the video lesson and take the whole team directly to play golf.

Watching movies together and eating together, the team re-established their friendship.

Then the Celtics also swept away the decline, chasing all the way to 3 to 3, and almost completed the feat of coming back from 0 to 3 for the first time in history.

Su Chen also felt that team building was meaningful.

Of course, the kind of team building that requires employees to go to the team building on the rest day and AA pays for it should be regarded as invalid team building.

Su Chen asked the team to come out to play, which directly canceled the work and classes, and all the money was paid by the team.

This kind of team building, everyone can have a lot of fun, after all, if you don’t come to the team building, you should have classes in the video room.

While visiting the scenery of the city of San Antonio, Su Chen also told the players that they will also charter a luxury cruise ship for the evening.

It makes the players very happy.

There was one guy, though, who seemed to be just going with the flow, and seemed to be holding back his displeasure.

That man was Butler.

"Hey Jimmy, you're not still thinking about what workouts you should do today, are you?"

Su Chen came over and patted Butler on the shoulder.

It can be seen that Butler's expression is a little unnatural.

"No coaching, I just don't understand why you're the one bringing it up."

Butler shook his head.

If other players dare to propose to have fun before the big game, Butler will deal with him severely, even the team boss.

Later, when Butler met Downs Wiggins, he couldn't understand their laziness, so Butler directly took the bench lineup to clean them up.

But it was the coach who brought up this matter, and this coach was Su Chen, a coach who had already gained Butler's respect.

Because Su Chen has always been relatively strict with the team, and Butler likes Su Chen's words the most.

You can't make a lot of shots on the court, but as long as you defend well, you can still play.

So when Su Chen proposed to go to play on vacation today, Butler didn't question it on the spot, including now that Butler was just sulking and didn't go to Su Chen to question him.

"Basketball is work. Many times we have to stay away from work in order to build friendship around us."

"When you're under pressure on the pitch, you might remember that you should trust your friends."

"Time with partners should be enjoyed, off and on the court."

Su Chen said with a smile to Butler.

After hearing this, Butler froze for a moment, then fell silent.

Su Chen didn't expect Butler to really listen. Butler often regarded too many people around him as enemies he needed to defeat.

Butler's humble background and lack of static talent make him like a beast in the jungle and need to keep fighting at all times.

"Don't think too much, basketball is just a part of life, you don't need to treat yourself like a different kind."

Su Chen didn't care if Butler could listen or not, so he casually said something to Butler.

"Well, I know the coach."

But this time Butler did not remain silent but responded.

Su Chen has no obligation either. He really wants to teach every player, and these players have their own way of life in the league.

Moreover, he may not be still in the Timberwolves next season.

After all, it is definitely easier to achieve the lottery requirements given by the system to change to a new team.

Taylor gave him his trust, but he just lived up to it.

Currently in the Western Conference finals, it is hard to say whether they can pass the Spurs or even win the championship.

But even with the Timberwolves team that was left for Taylor, he didn't have any psychological burden to leave the Timberwolves. The team that was used in the first round by the Timberwolves is actually worthless.

But don't think too much about it, just play well in the series with the Spurs first.

While dining in a luxurious restaurant at night, Su Chen saw Butler interacting with his teammates from time to time, he was no longer alone as before.

Su Chen smiled. It seemed that what he said to Butler had some effect.

After all, Butler is only in the third grade now, and he is not as stubborn as he was later.

It is not impossible to listen to him.

Seeing the atmosphere of the team, Su Chen also smiled lightly, and let go of playing with the players.

AT&T Center Arena.

The series between the Spurs and the Timberwolves, the first game G1 finally started at the AT&T Center.

The Spurs fans filled the arena. As the biggest championship favorite this season, the fans are full of confidence.

From the analysis of so many professional media before the game, they are all unanimously optimistic about the Spurs.

Moreover, many authoritative media directly gave a big score of 4:0 or 4:1.

There are not many authoritative media with 4:2.

In GDP, although Manu has degraded, he can still play the role of grabbing points on the bench.

At the same time, Duncan still looks like he is still at his peak. When Duncan plays the pivot in the paint, the Spurs' tactical system is very smooth.

Although Parker is a bit slower, facing the Timberwolves' forward lineup, he still has a great advantage in speed.

And Leonard, who has grown and matured, is also the reason for the Spurs to become stronger.

As long as Master Ka plays, he usually doesn't deny how good he is, he just doesn't play much later.

Of course, the reason why the media is so unanimously optimistic about the Spurs is also because the Spurs have been crushing all the way.

Swept the Grizzlies in the first round and eliminated the Thunder 4-1 in the second round.

Although the Timberwolves also had the same score, they swept the Trail Blazers in the first round and eliminated the Warriors 4-1 in the second round.

But the Timberwolves are the problem of suppressing the style of play. Both teams are similar three-point teams, and they happen to be suppressed by the Timberwolves' forward team.

The Spurs' record is obviously more valuable.

Of course, there is a reason for the media to be so unanimously optimistic about the Spurs, even to the extent of blowing up the Spurs.

The Spurs have not shown their timidity so far. In the original timeline, although the Spurs swept the Heat in the finals.

But he was timid in the first round and was beaten to the tiebreaker by an old calf, so the Spurs and Heat's finals were actually similar before the game.

The Spurs without showing cowardice made the media feel that this is an unstoppable Spurs.

The lights in the arena dimmed.

Then a beam of light shone on the Spurs' arena channel.

The Spurs players entered the field one by one, and everyone's face was full of confidence.

When Duncan played for the last time, the atmosphere in the arena reached a peak.

Facing the cheers from the audience, Duncan remained calm.

After all, Duncan's appearance throughout his career has basically remained relatively serious.

After finally laughing once, he was called a foul by the bald referee, which made Duncan laugh even less.

Of course, being overturned by the Warriors last season also made Duncan not laugh.

This season they were still thinking about avenging the Warriors, and the Warriors were eliminated by the Timberwolves.

However, Su Chen was an important figure who turned them around last season. This season, facing the Timberwolves led by Su Chen, it will also have the same revenge effect.

Not only revenge, but the age of GDP also made them eager for the championship.

After the entering ceremony, Su Chen and Timberwolves also entered the arena.

Facing the aura shown by the Spurs, Su Chen didn't have much reaction. Su Chen, who was on the sidelines, looked very calm watching the players' warm-up.

Of course, if there is no tension at all, it is not.

The Spurs are the strongest opponent in the entire playoffs. If they can beat the Spurs, the championship will basically be stable.

It can be said that this series is the finals series.

Many of these people in the Timberwolves have not played on such a high-level stage.

Not much to say about those rookies.

Josh Smith reached the Eastern Conference semifinals at the highest, and was eliminated by the Bulls led by Rose that year.

Iguodala is also the highest in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Iguodala was a pity that season. In the 76ers, Iguodala and Holiday and the Celtics who formed the Big Three reached the tiebreaker.

Butler was also eliminated by the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.

Of course, it is not a player who has not played high-level games.

For example, Luol Deng, the Bull who eliminated Josh in the Eagles that year, Luol Deng was one of them.

But in the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat did not play the Big Three.

The other is Ibaka.

Ibaka reached the finals the highest, and he was the starter in the Thunder, and his status is not low.

Of course, the highest is the coach.

It is still very close that Su Chen led the Warriors to the championship last season.

For such a high-level game, there is no doubt that every game will be broadcast live across the United States.

"Haha, we are here to explain the Timberwolves game again. Are you optimistic about the Timberwolves this time?"

Johnson asked several people.

The commentators, of course, also came.

"I supported the Warriors in the last round of the series, but I was slapped in the face by the Timberwolves, but I am still not optimistic about the Timberwolves in this round of the series."

"The series against the Warriors is not so much about the strength of the team as it is about Su Chen knowing the Warriors too well and suppressing Coach Kerr."

"The Timberwolves can't take advantage of the Spurs' lineup. On the contrary, Duncan and Parker's pick-and-roll will be difficult for the Timberwolves to handle."

Kenny Smith said seriously.

"The last round of the Timberwolves was indeed a bit unexpected, but I have to say that if the Timberwolves face other opponents in the Western Conference Finals, they still have to play, but they have little chance against the Spurs."

It is rare that Barkley did not sing against Kenny Smith and agreed with Kenny Smith.

"Actually, it can't be said that the Timberwolves have no chance at all. Giannis needs to play more firmly. He was restricted by Green in the last round. I don't know what he is doing."

"Man, you are so big, you go to the inside!"

O'Neill expressed a different opinion.

In his view, Giannis Antetokounmpo was restricted by a 1-meter Green in the last round, which is a ridiculous thing.

O'Neal felt that Giannis Antetokounmpo was a bit soft.

"I don't think Giannis Antetokounmpo is very soft. He can rush in with a turn and a European step in the face of some big centers, but he can't get through with strength and speed."

"I don't know why he couldn't get through, but the fact is, he just didn't get through."

Kenny Smith waved his hand and said.

"It's still a matter of core strength. I can sit in all the insiders like the league now."

Barkley said with a laugh.

Although Barkley's appearance of saying this is owed, but he does have the capital to say this.

In order to limit Barkley's rogue post-ups, the league revised it to a 5-second post-up rule.

Before this rule was modified, Barkley could often be seen reaching out to his teammates for the ball from the top of the arc, and then sitting on his back all the way to the basket.

But even if this rule is modified, it still doesn't stop Barkley's efficient offense, it just prevents this guy from being a rascal at the beginning of the game.

"Not only strength, but technique is also very important. His technique is too rough."

O'Neill also said at this time.

Although the impression of O'Neal's entire career is streamlined, it seems that he is either very technical, or he is hitting the basket.

But in fact, O'Neal's skills are quite delicate among centers.

"So what are the Timberwolves' chances of winning if Giannis doesn't break through himself?"

Johnson asked O'Neill again.

"Then it will be too difficult for them to beat the Spurs. That dude Duncan still has good fighting power, and the Timberwolves' inside line can't handle him."

"There is also Leonard, a young man, who performed very well, which will cause a lot of trouble for the Timberwolves."

O'Neill changed his answer.

(End of this chapter)