NBA: Duncan feels uneasy coaching Warriors

Chapter 241 Changing the starting lineup before the game
The coaching gap made it seem like the Warriors didn't have much of an advantage.

Although it is almost impossible to find a coach in NBA history who has a real impact that can surpass the influence of a superstar. In many cases, the player's personal ability is greater than the coach's influence.

After all, at critical moments, it is more the stars who use their personal abilities to stand up and solve problems.

But Su Chen has changed two teams in a row and won the championship, and they were both teams that were not optimistic about the outside world, and they won the championship with them.

This made the outside world dare not ignore Su Chen's ability.

A more objective analysis.

The Clippers' lineup was not really crushed against the Warriors. At least in terms of substitutes, the Clippers still had the advantage.

The depth of the lineup rotation is still better than that of the Warriors.

Tyson Chandler's reinforcement of the Warriors did not come without a bargaining chip. Barnes was simply released, which further reduced the Warriors' forward resources.

Su Chen's evaluation of this warrior is not necessarily better than the warriors in the original timeline.

Barnes was used as a bargaining chip to reinforce Chandler. Although veteran Richard Jefferson was discovered, Iguodala was also intercepted and replaced by Brewer.

This makes the Warriors more passive in frontline swing, and without Iguodala, they lose one of the strongest locks in the lineup.

Oracle Arena.

The Oracle Arena tonight is a sea of ​​yellow, full of oppression.

After the Warriors were eliminated last season, this season ushered in an evolution. Their strong performance in the regular season allowed their record to top the league.

At the same time, they also performed very strongly in the playoffs.

Sweeping the Mavericks in the first round, the Rockets won one game in the second round but still won easily.

There is no doubt that the Warriors this season are aiming for the championship.

Their lineup had already won the championship when it was weaker. Now the Splash Brothers have become more mature and their lineup is much stronger than before.

Cole also used this team more skillfully.

Golden State fans have also regained confidence in this Warriors.

Although their opponent is that man.

The man who took them to the top, the man who brought them home last season.

But after changing teams, the Clippers' lineup with a heavy center as the core has no advantage against them.

The Timberwolves were indeed very disciplined last season, and their unlimited defense changes and rotation speed were just enough to limit the Warriors' style of play.

The current Clippers have Jokic, a bulky center, and Lillard, who is averagely defensive, and they just happen to encounter Curry's historic three-point play with the ball.

Even Su Chen, with the cards in his hand like this, can he still make a splash?

Facing the Clippers, they have a natural advantage. Warriors fans basically dismiss the Clippers.

At this time, as the Warriors players entered the court and Curry appeared on the court, the atmosphere in the arena reached a peak.

Curry gritted his braces with a nonchalant expression, which already showed the momentum of the small ball king.

With the changes in the rules, Curry can be called a version T0 hero.

At the same time, there is another top T1 Thompson assisting Curry, which makes the Warriors' offensive ability the best in the league.

Their league-leading record and easy wins in the playoffs also gave the entire Warriors the aura of a victorious team.

They don't care about any opponent and can easily win.

The games this version of the Warriors won were indeed too easy. They were often clocked out in three quarters and were not even used to playing the entire game.

The Clippers on the other side also entered the court.

The players are warming up.

Su Chen did not stand on the sidelines, but sat in his seat.

"Are we going to start with this from the beginning? How about playing first?"

Milosevic said nervously.

Because Su Chen changed the starting lineup before the game.

You know, the Clippers' starting lineup has not changed much since the regular season took shape.

When facing strong opponents like the Spurs and Timberwolves in the first and second rounds, they relied on this starting lineup to win all the way.

If the team is winning, there is no need to adjust. This is a rule that coaches in the league will abide by.

The Clippers, who are already on a winning streak, have relied on the starting lineup to play like this. Even if there is a weakness that happens to be the opponent's strength, they should look at it first.

Maybe if we really fight, the opponent won't be able to attack this weakness at all?

Just like Rivers' Timberwolves.

"After the Warriors have established an advantage, their downwind ability is among the best in the league. At that time, it will be difficult to adjust and catch up."

Suchen glanced at Milosevic and said to him.

It was also Lao Mi who had been following him for a long time. If other assistant coaches came to ask him this question, he would not even bother to answer.

"Okay, Su, what you said makes sense."

After hearing this, Milosevic thought for a moment and nodded.

He has also read the Warriors' team data analysis. It is true that the Warriors' ability to score consecutive points is so strong that even calling a timeout will be difficult to interrupt the Warriors' morale.

On the contrary, in many of the games the Warriors lost, they failed to establish a lead at the beginning.

Giving the Warriors a lead is really hard to catch.

Just like the game the Warriors lost against the Rockets, the splash was not missed, and Harden shot with a super high shooting percentage.

Under such circumstances, the Rockets won one game.

Gold medal commentary team.

They have already reached this level of competition, plus the Western Conference is a collision between two super teams, and it is also a battle between Su Chen and his old team, so they will naturally not be absent.

"Su Chen only has two old clubs now, and now he wants to fight two of them in a row."

Johnson spoke first.

"Even the Spurs were Su Chen's opponents when he debuted."

Buckley added at this time.

"In the last series, we were still discussing whether Su Chen could be considered a personal dynasty if he won championships with different teams for three consecutive seasons."

"But now facing the Warriors, their style of play is too specific to the Clippers. It's hard for Su Chen to come up with a response."

Kenny Smith said at this time.

"You are right, it is simply too difficult for the Clippers to surpass the Warriors."

"A Curry might be able to figure out how to target him, but they also have Thompson, whose three-point explosiveness is sometimes even stronger than Curry's."

Johnson also nodded.

In the last series, they did not discuss an answer to the question of whether Su Chen's championships with different teams in three seasons could be considered a personal dynasty.

Of course, they also want to watch the excitement and see what impact the consecutive championships of three different teams can have on the league.

But they had to admit that this warrior was too strong.

Even Barkley, who doesn't like the Warriors' three-point play, has nothing to defend at this time. The Warriors' strength has already been demonstrated.

The league's current rules are very friendly to three-pointers, and Buckley has nothing to be aggressive about due to the rule bonus.

At this time, a staff member handed a list into O'Neal's hands.

"Oh? Is this how Su Chen responded?" O'Neal said in surprise after reading the list.

After hearing O'Neill's words, the other three were also very curious.

But O'Neal was a little annoying. He didn't show the list to the three people immediately, but pretended to read the list seriously.

The three of them also got mad and launched a crusade against O'Neal.

O'Neill just wanted to improve the effect of the program. Seeing that the effect of the program was achieved, he also gave the list to three people.

This list is naturally the list of starting players from both sides.

There are no changes to the Warriors, using their usual starting lineup.

The Clippers' starting lineup has undergone tremendous changes.

"Lillard was removed from the starting lineup and Rondo was promoted to the starting lineup!"

Johnson said in surprise after reading the list.

"Lillard has shown a very efficient offense in the past games, and his cooperation with Jokic has reached a very high level."

"Of course Su Chen wants to improve his defense by making this change, but Jokic is not like Capela who can take off at any time to make alley-oops, and Rondo does not have the ability to hold the ball or make three-pointers without the ball."

After Kenny Smith looked at it, he shook his head.

"If we improve our defense, will we replace the wrong person? Shouldn't Capela be put in the starting lineup?"

Barkley didn't understand the operation of replacing Rondo.

There is no doubt that Rondo is an excellent defender, but even Rondo is not very reliable in chasing the Warriors' pick-and-roll by himself.

Chandler is very strong, and his pick-and-roll quality is very good. Rondo may be able to get around some pick-and-rolls, but we can't expect Rondo to get around the ball, right?

Besides, although Lillard's defense is not excellent, it is generally at the pass level among small guards.

The Warriors had an advantage over the Clippers mainly because Curry's three-pointer was too fast and Jokic couldn't switch out.

With Lillard's defensive ability, it's not to the point where Curry can't get enough of the ball.

"It is indeed the wrong substitution. Since it is difficult to adjust the defense, it is better to play Lillard directly. At least the offense can compete with each other."

Even O'Neal, who admires Jokic very much, is not optimistic about this substitution at this time.

Lillard may be a weakness against the Warriors, but only a small one.

The real big weakness is Jokic.

"Although Jokic has produced historical data before, he is still a rookie after all. If Jokic is really replaced, he can still change the system with the Clippers' lineup."

"Chandler of the Warriors is a blue-collar player and has no low-post offensive ability. Su Chen can even consider the system he played in the Timberwolves last season."

At this time, Kenny Smith expressed his suggestion.

Needless to say, Kenny Smith’s advice is actually quite reliable.

The Clippers' lineup is quite deep, and even Batum playing power forward has been proven to be feasible.

Players such as Jeff Green and Kyle Anderson can theoretically play as a guest center when playing for the Warriors.

Although facing Chandler, these players are all at a disadvantage.

But in this case, Su Chen can use the unlimited defense and quick rotation strategy used by the Timberwolves last season.

Last season, Su Chen already proved that this strategy can win the Warriors.

Anyway, if Lillard is not included, Jokic might as well not be included. Returning to the forward system of last season is also a way.

"It seems like this is really possible. Maybe Su Chen will adopt your opinion in the next game."

O'Neill laughed.

"But at least in this case, Su Chen won't know about the strategy you provided."

Johnson also said with a smile.

In short, the commentators still feel that the substitution of Lillard in the starting lineup is not very correct.

As for the methods they provide, it's all just talk.

After all, in a noisy venue, their commentary will not be broadcast live simultaneously.

And this time.

Cole, who was in the Warriors camp, also got the Clippers' starting lineup from his assistant.

"Let Rondo start?"

Cole was stunned for a moment after seeing this starting list.

Cole thought for a moment and came up with Su Chen's idea.

Rondo's defensive ability among point guards can be said to be T1 level.

After all, he is a point guard who has been selected to the All-Defensive First Team.

The plan is just to let Rondo chase Curry, and forget about switching defenses, even if Rondo is the top defender among point guards.

But as a point guard, his height of 1 meters makes it difficult for Rondo to defend the front line, let alone the inside.

After Cole suffered the losses of the switching defense system last season, he still remembers it now. Especially after seeing Su Chen, he was guarding against whether Su Chen would come up with another switching defense system.

But the combination of Jokic and Garondo, one cannot guard the outside, and the other cannot guard the inside.

The only defensive strategy the Clippers can choose is to retreat and defend.

And not playing Lillard made Cole relieved a lot. After all, the threats of Jokic and Lillard on the offensive end are really difficult to guard against.

Before the game, he thought about a lot of defensive strategies starting from Lillard, because in the past games, Jokic proved that he is really not afraid of double-teaming and targeting.

The more he targeted Jokic, the more excited he became.

So Cole thought, he still had to start with Lillard.

But now Lillard was directly replaced in the starting lineup, which made Cole laugh.

Rondo's three-pointers basically don't need to be taken care of. The offensive threat of his teammates is small, and Jokic's role will be relatively smaller.

Under such circumstances, Cole considered dealing with Jokic directly, which would be much simpler.

"It seems that you also have an unlimited defense system."

Cole put down the Clippers' starting list, looked in the direction of the Clippers and smiled lightly.

Before the game, the outside world was optimistic about the Warriors, but Cole was not relaxed at all.

Ever since he took over as Warriors coach, he has been constantly compared with Su Chen.

He was very angry at first and kept thinking about getting good results and proving it to everyone.

But in last season's playoffs, others may have less impression, but for Cole, he still remembers it now.

Last season, when the Warriors' lineup was better than that of the Timberwolves, when he faced Su Chen, he played a game with a huge gap in strength between the two sides.

He was crushed by Su Chen.

This stuck with Cole.

So before this game, Cole thought a lot and simulated many of Su Chen's formations.

He considered many factors that could help the Clippers reverse their style of play.

In his simulation, he was actually not very sure about the offensive end of the combination of Lillard and Jokic.

(End of this chapter)