unfinished glory

Chapter 285 Waiting for Three Years
Li Chongxiao's winning the MVP did not stimulate the Thunder team too much. This kind of thing has happened several times, and the players of the Thunder team are used to it.Besides, apart from Durant, other players don't have this or that to compete for this honor.

Although individual honors cannot be contested, collective honors can still be pursued.Even if Harden is injured, the strength of the Thunder is higher than that of the Grizzlies.

The team has two All-Star players averaging 25+ per game. Just relying on shooting makes it difficult for the Grizzlies to parry outside.With Durant's height, coupled with the shooting ability he has developed over the years, no one in the league can prevent death.Although Westbrook's shooting is not effective from time to time, it is more than enough to deal with Conley.

Since the Grizzlies changed their head coach, a big problem is that their tactics are rigid and their formations are slow.Mike Brown basically uses a set of lineups and tactics to deal with all opponents, not only in the regular season, but also in the playoffs.When the opponent changes, he can't always react and keep up with the opponent's rhythm.

It was like that in the first round of the playoffs, and it took a game or two to figure it out.Now facing the Thunder's strong attack at the beginning, there is no way to parry, and they can only watch the team fall behind in the first half.

However, Li Chongxiao has never had the habit of losing after winning the MVP. The head coach can't count on it, so he can only find a way by himself.To be honest, sometimes he can't blame Mike Brown, because the other party treats him really well.

Popovich was lenient towards Li Chongxiao at the beginning, and then became stricter after he performed well, and then he relied heavily on him and then suppressed him.When the two got along well or badly, Popovich always wanted to control Li Chongxiao, not only did he not have much respect, but even discriminated against him a bit.

Carlisle and Li Chongxiao are in a cooperative relationship. The two get along very well, and they worked together to create the Grizzly Dynasty.Although the two sides also respect each other, Carlisle has his own philosophy and is willing to listen to Li Chongxiao's opinions on tactics, but in the end he still controls the overall situation.

Only Mike Brown, who expressed respect for Li Chongxiao before he came, was the first to tell the news of his upcoming appointment, earlier than the team's official announcement.Tactically, Brown is not resting on his laurels. Knowing his own deficiencies in offense, he took the initiative to discuss with Li Chongxiao to study how to use his strength more efficiently and help the team go further.

Through discussions with Mike Brown, Li Chongxiao did know the opponent's flaws in offensive tactics.In terms of Li Chongxiao's style of taking care of himself first and not worrying about others, he is not very good at blaming others.This position was given by the boss,

From the perspective of offensive tactics, Mike Brown is like a colleague who does things sloppily and follows the trend. He can't help much at work and occasionally lags behind.But I can't stand him speaking politely, he never forgets to bring gifts every time he travels on business, and he often treats him to dinner.Sometimes I would blame him, but sometimes I would make excuses for the sake of his ability to be a human being.

Li Chongxiao will have nowhere to escape for a while, so he can only help find a way to jointly build the team's offensive system.Even if he can't save the team, he will do his job.

During the intermission, Mike Brown couldn't come up with any good ideas in the locker room. Li Chongxiao was able to complete the mutual explosion with Durant and even surpassed it, but no one could stop Westbrook.The team's No. [-] Thompson doesn't have much autonomous offensive ability, and it's not easy to get rid of Durant or Andre Robertson's defense.

Now in front of the Grizzlies, there are two options.Either it is to strengthen the offense, and there is a master like Carter on the bench, and Butler can also fight.Either focus on defense, reproduce Carlisle's tactics back then, take down Conley, and use the better defensive Thompson to switch positions to limit Westbrook.

Mike Brown stabilized for a while. First, he is a defensive background after all, and has some experience. The second tactic is tested.So he asked Thompson and Conley to switch defenders, and let Conley release some possession of the ball, increasing Li Chongxiao's possession time.

It's not the first time Li Chongxiao has been involved in possession of the ball. The last time he led the team to complete a reversal.And in the national team, they often hold the ball in the frontcourt to organize offenses.Although he can't achieve the level of James, he will never lose to the Knicks' Tracy McGrady.

The effect of this strange formation is obvious. After pinching out Westbrook, the Thunder's firepower has dropped. It is impossible to win just by Durant alone against Li Chongxiao.

Li Chongxiao scored 53 points and led the team to complete a reversal.The way he thought of for Mike Brown in the locker room shows that he still has the potential to be a coach.

……

In Game [-], the Thunder won.Without Harden, Reggie Jackson made up.

Sometimes I really have to admire the drafting ability of the Thunder. Leaving aside the Thunder's three young men and Ibaka, offensive players like Reggie Jackson, defensive champions like Andre Robertson, and Steven -High-quality blue-collar players like Adams are all high-quality players they have picked out, who are capable and meet the team's requirements.

The previous Grizzlies also had such a good vision, but it was a pity that they were blinded last season, and they could only rely on Butler to support the scene on the bench.

In the second game, the bench lineups of the two sides were evenly matched, and the main lineup lost.Mike Brown copied the plan of the previous game and was destroyed by Westbrook.

It is very speechless to say that it is not the tactical failure of the Grizzlies, but the personal abilities of the stars.Facing Butler's defense, Westbrook shot hard and scored most of the goals for him, scoring 43 points, which completely disintegrated the Grizzlies' tactical intentions.

No one can predict the sudden explosion of a star, and Li Chongxiao can't do it every game. The Grizzlies can only swallow the bitter fruit of failure helplessly.

In the next two games at the Thunder's home court, the Grizzlies won first and then lost.Letting Li Chongxiao control the ball is not a long-term solution after all. Not only can he not adapt, but the opponent can easily target him.

In addition to double-teaming Li Chongxiao, the Thunder also paid attention to cutting off the connection between him and Conley, causing the Grizzlies to lose the second player who can dominate the ball.

So after winning the third game with Li Chongxiao's 55 points, the Thunder took advantage of a tactical loophole and won by a big score.

After the loss, Li Chongxiao knew that the next game must not be played like this again. He advocated the idea of ​​strengthening the team's offense, and soon got the support of Mike Brown.

Li Chongxiao went on to race for two games, and then encouraged the substitute lineup to give it a go.When the Grizzlies' outside offensive energy is released, it is indeed not something the Thunder can stop.

Although both Durant and Westbrook performed very well, and Reggie Jackson and other substitutes also completed the task well, the Grizzlies performed better.

Although Li Chongxiao's average of 50+ per game in the series seems to be much more independent, but in the game, he is more selfless than the Thunder's second junior.His offense can drive his teammates and conform to the tactical arrangement, and the Thunder sometimes rely entirely on the two players' singles and contact with teammates, and their tactics are also very out of touch.

The Grizzlies eliminated the Thunder with a total score of 4:2 in the second round, reaching the Western Conference Finals again after three years.

(End of this chapter)