Reborn NBA's Strongest Talent

Chapter 94 94. The Energy of the New Lineup (Please subscribe and recommend)
On February 2017, 2, the Thunder played against the Lakers at home.

The Thunder released a new starting lineup after signings.

It is said to be brand new, but there is actually only one change, that is, there is no Oladipo and more Gibson.

Returned to a normal lineup.

You must know that in the small ball era, each team began to open up space, leaving at most one center to protect the basket, and power forwards are mainly outside three-pointers.

The Thunder's new lineup has strengthened the inside, strengthened the defense, and lost a lot of outside shots. It feels a bit retro, but it is very strange in the current league.

Westbrook is not a traditional point guard style of play, so I don't know where he can go.

The biggest adjustment brought about by the change of the starting lineup is that all the pressure on the offensive end is given to Westbrook.

Two have no independent offensive ability, one has not developed the ability and the other is stronger in defense than offense.

Scoring and assists must be grasped with both hands, both hands must be hard, the ball is more concentrated, and Westbrook's number of shots has reached an appalling level.

Westbrook scored 30 points, 47 rebounds and 11 assists in 11 shots.

Richard also took more shots with the second unit.

He scored 18 points on 11-of-25 shooting.

The Thunder beat the Lakers 108:95.

Westbrook and Richard combined for nearly 70 percent of the team's scoring.

And the strength of this lineup on the defensive end has also begun to take shape, at least not what the Lakers can face after Kobe retired.

Even if the Lakers have double No. [-] spots in the team at this time, the two No. [-] picks are obviously not activated. The number of shots taken by both of them is less than that of Nick Young who came off the bench and played alone. There is no improvement without training.

The Lakers can't prove anything, so they will wait for the next opponent.

On February 2, the Thunder continued to play against the Pelicans at home.

The Pelicans' inside twin towers finally played at the same time, Davis and Cousins.

Cousins ​​is currently the center with the best back-to-the-basket skills in the league, and Davis is a power forward with excellent singles ability facing the basket.

It is just used to verify the hardness of the Thunder's current lineup.

After a great battle, Davis and Cousins ​​both scored 20+, which turned the Thunder's insiders upside down.

But still lost.

Because Davis was the one who scored 30 and 40 points a while ago, he was blocked by the Thunder, and his shooting percentage was less than 45, and the two towers cooperated to score less than 50 points.

In teams that also lack the scoring ability of role players, yes, we are talking about the Thunder and Pelicans. Those with a dual-core score of 50 will definitely not be able to beat the team with a dual-core score of 70.

Westbrook continued to run wild and scored 40+ triple-doubles in a row. Richard made 19 of 11 shots and scored 27 points again.

The Thunder also took advantage of the momentum to win six consecutive victories, and their record is also firmly ranked fourth in the West, only 1.5 wins away from the Rockets in third.

We must know that there are 60 teams in the Western Conference with a winning rate of more than 6% so far this season, and the Warriors' winning rate is still above 80%.

People are still speculating whether the Warriors will break the record of 73 wins set just last season.

So it's unbelievable that the Thunder can reach fourth in the Western Conference with an incomplete formation.

On February 2, the Thunder played against the Jazz at home. The Jazz are currently the top six teams in the Western Conference. Hayward played the strongest season and cooperated with Rudy Gobert, the inside defensive gate, to bring the Jazz into the list of strong teams.

Of course, compared with the Clippers Big Three, the Spurs Leonard still lacks a lot of star flavor.

The Thunder won't be afraid if they compete defensively on the inside and score on the outside.

Although Westbrook's shooting percentage is not high, he is a top shot. The more he shoots, the higher his shooting. It will be worse if he blindly reduces his shots. Now, Westbrook of the Thunder has unlimited shooting rights and the responsibility of making shots.

Then vote.

At the same time, with Richard's support, Hayward is not considered a qualified defender. Now if he continued to defend Richard, he would no longer be as powerful as before, and the Jazz would not defend the outside line at all.

But at this time, the Thunder's defensive ability exceeds its offensive ability. If they want to explode each other, they have to see if they have that offensive ability.

While Westbrook continued to post a triple-double, the Thunder once again beat the Jazz.Westbrook's shooting percentage was not high in this field, only 29 of 10 shots.

Richard made 16 of 9 shots and scored 22 points.

The seven-game winning streak and the three-game winning streak after the All-Star proved that the team's tactics at this time are effective, and the chemical reaction between the players is also good.

And the team's two styles of play, one fast and one slow, can also fight against various rhythms.

There is Westbrook for fast break breakthroughs, and Richard for mid-range shots.The team's signings this time also include the steady Gibson and the energetic Grant. The team has not yet determined what style they should use to play.

But as long as it can win, no matter what style it is, a cat that can catch mice is a good cat.

After using the game to verify the feasibility of the lineup, the Thunder finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Westbrook's tense face for a week finally relaxed.

This person obviously puts the team's record higher than his personal honor. Of course, if the record and honor can be obtained at the same time, who would refuse?
On March 3, the Thunder challenged the Trail Blazers away.

The Blazers and the Nuggets reached a deal that made the Thunder complain.

The Blazers will send center Mason Plumlee and a 2018 second-round pick to the Nuggets for Nurkic and a 2017 first-round pick.

Originally, the Blazers used Plumlee in exchange for this year's draft pick. Plumlee averaged 5 assists per game and ranked fifth among centers. He is a supporting center.

But who knew that Nurkic, who was only good in defense and rebounding in the Nuggets, developed more abilities when he arrived in the Trail Blazers.

After only playing 5 games, Nurkic showed a good coping ability.

Did you learn from Teacher Yue?

I don’t know if the Nuggets have any regrets, but the Nuggets originally wanted Jokic to assume the core position of the team. It is not a loss to send away a backup center.

The addition of Nurkic has greatly improved the Blazers' defensive strength and relieved Lillard's organizational pressure. The pick-and-roll between the two can also play more tricks.

In this way, the Thunder's reinforcement looks more like a joke.

The inside line is tight, only the outside line is better than the outside line, and the outside line is also double-gunned. The competition between the two sides is very intense.

But Westbrook had no way to break through, which made him lose his most important weapon, and outside shooting happened to be Lillard's forte.

One ebbs and another, the Thunder fell into a disadvantage in the star competition.

There is not much difference between Richard and McCollum. McCollum's long-range shooting ability is slightly stronger, and Richard's mid-range singles is better.

The other role players performed similarly. In this way, the Thunder also found their weakest link in the loss.

That is, in the face of a team with strong internal defensive ability and focused on outside offense, Westbrook's performance will be greatly restricted, which in turn will affect the team's victory or defeat.

威斯布鲁克28投9中拿到30分8篮板6助攻。看上去除了命中率其他问题不大，但和其他比赛相比助攻少了至少4个，这说明了威斯布鲁克的突破分球被很大的限制了，原因是突进去了却传不出来。

Richard scored 21 points on 11-of-24 shooting.The shooting percentage still remains above 50%, but although the shooting is high, the aggressiveness is not very sufficient, almost no free throw opportunities are obtained, and the lethality to the opponent does not seem to be so sufficient.

What is even more noticeable is that when Westbrook's performance is restricted, there is a problem with Richard's leadership. He can become a general to charge into battle, but he cannot become a marshal to strategize.

Or the difference between a killer and a leader.

On March 3, the Thunder challenged the Suns in back-to-back away games.

This season, as long as the Thunder encounters the second game of back-to-back games, this rule still applies in the game against the Suns.

The players are all young. Except for Westbrook and Gibson, none of the other role players and rotation players are over 25 years old. They don't have enough field experience, especially in post-match rest and recuperation.

The result of lack of physical strength is of course a loss, even if the opponent is the Suns who are rebuilding, and it is a team that gives unlimited shooting rights to a second-year rookie.

Booker only scored 17 points, but 6 of the Suns scored in double figures.

威斯布鲁克再次暴砍45分13篮板8助攻，李察德也15投8中拿到20分。

Except for the two Thunder players who scored in double figures, Kanter scored 12 points.

Not to lose is strange.

On March 3, the Thunder continued their road trip. The opponent in this game was very close to home, just over 5 kilometers away in Dallas, Lexus.

The opponent is the Mavericks.

Nowitzki also invited Richard to Dallas to play last time. It seems that if it is not for the competition, such a game may be difficult to achieve.

"Li Cha!" Nowitzki's smile always made people feel very strange, probably because his face was too long.

"I watched your rookie game. It was wonderful. It ignited a raging fire in my heart. If I have a chance, I would like to go to the rookie game again to experience that passionate feeling." Nowitzki is not joking, his eyes are full of desire for youth.

"You definitely have a chance." Richard complained frantically in his heart, no wonder you are going to be the head coach of the World Alliance next year's All-Star.

Nowitzki patted Richard and laughed, "Don't go back today, stay for a day after the game, and tomorrow I will take you around Dallas."

You, a big brother who is facing retirement, told me to skip shifts, it is simply not good to take people.

Richard was thinking about how to fight back, Nowitzki laughed again, "Just kidding, I seldom participate in training now, it seems like you still have a long way to go, you have to work hard!"

After speaking, he made a cheering gesture.

……

This is not like an untrained person. Nowitzki scored the Mavericks' highest score of 50 points with a shooting rate close to 23%.

Isn't this the basic operation in the super giant period?

　Ask for subscription, ask for recommendation.

　　


(End of this chapter)