Pick Westbrook

Chapter 292

Seeing Li Lai's signal, Paul could only stop helplessly, and then waited for the players in Group B to return to the defensive position.

Still the same tactic.

Paul and Jordan executed high pick-and-rolls, and this time Jimmy Butler chose to double-team decisively.

Paul's pass was fast and accurate, and he gave the ball directly to Leonard in the corner.

The latter raised his hand and hit a three-pointer.

The group confrontation competition within the team ended soon.

Group A almost crushed Group B, and Stevens was also overwhelmed by Li Lai's offensive and defensive tactics.

Whether it is the subtlety of tactics or the applicability to the players, Li Lai is far superior to Stevens.

Du Feng asked curiously: "If the coach coaches Group B and Brad coaches Group A, will the result be any different?"

After Du Feng finished speaking, Stevens looked at Li Lai excitedly, eager to try.

Li Lai nodded and smiled, willing to give the other party such a chance.

Day two.

The Hornets' group confrontation training continued.

The players in Group A and Group B did not change, but the coaches were exchanged. Stevens led Group A, and Li Lai led Group B.

Lee called Patrick Beverley, JR Smith, Jimmy Butler, Lou Amundson and Jason Smith to his side.

"To be honest, you were taught a bad lesson in yesterday's team training match, and it even made me think that you didn't play at the NBA level at all."

"So show your strength, don't be underestimated by your opponents, even if you are teammates, you have to let them maintain enough respect for you."

Li Lai clapped vigorously, and the players in Group B immediately mobilized all their emotions and fighting spirit.

Beverly clapped his hands in response to Li Lai, and Jimmy Butler stared at Leonard eagerly.

Last night's game, JR Smith was almost constipated by Leonard, and the opponent's big hands also left a deep impression on him.

In tonight's game, JR Smith vowed to teach that rookie Leonard a lesson.

At this time, Li Lai called JR Smith to his side and said: "Group B has no passer and no support point. Too many passes and complicated tactics will make us mess up."

"So our next style of play will mainly focus on personal offense."

"Of course, Group A is indeed much stronger than us in terms of talent, but it doesn't mean that we have no hope of winning them."

JR Smith glanced at Li Lai with some doubts. He couldn't believe that the hope that the other party said was him, and he couldn't believe that Li Lai had such high expectations for him.

Li Lai nodded and admitted, "You have the team's fourth highest salary, do you think I let you play?"

"At the beginning you said that the Hornets made you lose the possibility of becoming an All-Star, so now you are still on this team to get back what you have lost."

Game start.

Jordan jumped off the ball and Paul advanced with the ball.

Stevens is going to play the offensive tactics that Li Lai designed for Group A yesterday.

But Group B put a lot of defensive pressure and deterrence as soon as it came up. Beverly has been stalking and interfering with Paul's dribbling and passing.

Jason Smith chose to go around the front to defend and block, blocking Jordan's upward movement.

Because of his slow pace, Jordan fell into endless confrontation in the interior and did not get rid of it in the first place. Paul fell into Beverly's defensive interference again, and he also did not get out of it quickly.

Group A's offense was blocked.

Stevens yelled at the court, motioning for the weak side to come up and get the ball, while the other side went inside to screen for Jordan.

Seeing this scene, Li Lai nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Brad reacted quickly."

Jordan got rid of Jason Smith's defense in the paint and finally got outside the three-point line.

Paul also broke away from Beverly's defense under Leonard's off-ball screen, and was replaced by JR Smith.

JR Smith's defense is not as aggressive as Beverley's.

Group A still successfully played high-position pick-and-roll tactics, but most of the time of the offensive round has been consumed.

Stevens breathed a sigh of relief at this time.

In his opinion, as long as Jordan and Paul play a high pick-and-roll, it will be impossible for Group B to defend anyway.

"No! It's on guard!"

Du Feng's shout attracted everyone's attention.

on the field.

When Jordan picked and rolled, Group B double-teamed to assist the defense. Beverly voluntarily gave up his defender Leonard, and moved to the free throw line to double-team Paul.

In this way, Jason Smith has no need to worry about Paul's three-pointers and breakthrough threats, so he did not switch defenses and still followed Jordan.

The cooperation of Jordan's attacking alley dunks along the way can be regarded as defense.

But what level of court control is Paul? He took the initiative to throw the ball out the moment he saw Beverly double-teaming.

According to Paul's experience, Leonard must be in a wide open state at this time, and the opponent's three-point shooting ability is not bad, so as long as he can pass the ball quickly, accurately and steadily at this time, the offense of Group A will be considered successful. up.

But the reality picture was completely beyond Paul's expectations. When he passed the ball, he found that JR Smith was in front of Leonard.

"how can that be!"

Stevens gasped in surprise at the sight.

JR Smith was originally the one who defended Leonard, but just now in order to help Paul get rid of Beverly's dog-like plaster fight, Leonard was asked to perform a pick-and-roll switch.

Stevens also has the idea of ​​putting Paul against an easier defender, JR Smith.

But just the execution of an anti-pick-and-roll tactic, the players in Group B cleverly allowed Beverly to participate in double-teaming, and at the same time liberated JR Smith, allowing him to return to the original defender.

Although Leonard's physical talent is extremely good, he does not have a strong ability to score independently. Otherwise, with his height and wingspan, how could he fall to the 15th pick before being selected.

"In other words, Group B not only destroyed the high pick-and-roll tactics of Group A, but also forced the ball to come to the players they like to see the ball most."

"Wonderful! This defensive tactic is really wonderful!"

Stevens looked at Li Lai as if he was looking at a terrifying monster, and he finally realized how the famous coaches in the league felt when facing Li Lai.

"Why did Popovich and the Zen master Phil Jackson praise Li Lai so much, calling him a leader among the younger generation of coaches?"

"Because they haven't been able to fight!"

Seeing that there is not much time left in the offensive round, Leonard can only try to make a three-pointer against the defense.

Duang!

The basketball hit the iron without accident, Butler received the rebound, and Group B attacked.

Different from the traditional inside-oriented play that Stevens arranged yesterday, although Li Lai also discovered the gap in talent and ability between the players in Group B and the players in Group A, it was almost impossible to win the players in Group A. Big possibility.

However, Li Lai's offensive tactics and offensive core designed for Group B were entirely on JR Smith on the outside.

After Beverley advanced with the ball, he took the initiative to give the ball to JR Smith who came up.

Leonard's big hand has been covering the eyes of JR Smith, who can't even see the rebound at this moment.

Leonard's defense is full of deterrence.

Louis Amundson and Jason Smith both came up to play the pick-and-roll, Leonard was firmly blocked behind, and Jordan did not choose to defend because of his slow footsteps, but tried to stand at the free throw line.

JR Smith did not hesitate, and shot directly from outside the three-point line after using the pick-and-roll.

Swish!
hit!

JR Smith didn't even bother to look after his shot.

He has always been confident in his shooting. In this ability, he has always been dissatisfied with Kobe and Ray Allen.

Of course, JR Smith still accepted Curry's three-pointer.

The game continues.

Knowing that the high-position pick-and-roll was blocked, Paul took the initiative to change the offensive tactics, and let him sort out and organize the offense.

Paul's basketball IQ is extremely high. Under his reorganization, Group A began to play free throw line support and breakthrough tactics.

Leonard and Vince Carter successively bullied the inside frame protection problem of Group B and scored easily.

The offense in Group B is completely handed over to JR Smith alone, who has the taste of a bad team.

JR Smith felt extremely hot tonight, and even he himself was surprised. He always felt that with Lee as his head coach, he was full of confidence in every shot he made.

Three-pointer, breakthrough, mid-range, backhand dunk
Finally the game is over.

Paul completed a crucial layup lore, and Group A won the game 52:50.

Although he won the game, Stevens was already sweating coldly on his forehead at the moment.

With such a lineup of almost all substitutes, Li Lai almost defeated the all-starting Group A. It is conceivable how accomplished he is in the design of both offensive and defensive tactics.

At this time, Stevens finally believed what Li Lai said before the start of the training camp. He really planned to build the Hornets into an extremely strong team on both offense and defense.

After two consecutive days of team training, all players of the Hornets felt the team's ability, not as weak as imagined before the start of the training camp.

Chris Paul even felt that the current style of play of the Hornets might be stronger than the Hornets of last season.

Because of the two-day team confrontation, the feelings and familiarity among all the players of the Hornets have gradually warmed up.

Vince Carter lived up to Li Lai's expectations. After training, he would always find Leonard and Jimmy Butler on his own initiative to impart some experience on the court and skills on both offensive and defensive ends.

Beverley moved to find Paul to ask about some ball handling issues.

Du Feng will always be with all the players at this time to help them complete the final extra training.

9 month 25 day.

All teams in the league took makeup photos, and the curtain of the new season is slowly opening.

Both Leonard and Jimmy Butler insisted on taking a photo that was just theirs.

This move ushered in the teasing of veterans Louis Amundson and Jason Smith, bluntly saying that they are conjoined twins.

In the last group photo, Li Lai is sitting in the center of the players holding the ball, with Chris Paul on the left, Leonard on the right, Jordan Jr., Vince Carter, JR Smith and Jimmy Butler behind him.
April July.

The Hornets training camp is over, and the preseason game is also determined to start in three days.

Hammond caught up with Lee to talk about the team's future schedule.

"The time for the opening game of the regular season is determined on October 10, and there are still 27 days before the official start of the new season."

"During this period, we will play a total of eight preseason games, but the opener game is the Bucks and Mavericks, and the Lakers and Spurs."

"We didn't qualify for the opening game, and the first game was also at home against the Knicks on October 10."

Li Lai nodded.

This is the first time in three years that the team he led missed the opening game. Even though the Bucks were so difficult, they were lucky to play the game at this time.

This can only show that no one cares about the Hornets, and few fans in the entire league pay attention to this team.

Hammond continued: "In the entire regular season of 82 games, we only have one game that is televised across the United States."

"The current season ticket sales are only 20%, and the attendance rate of the first game is 80% because of the Knicks."

Li Lai has already guessed which team the Hornets will play in the only live broadcast game in the United States that Hammond said, and he is also looking forward to that moment, but now Li Lai is more concerned about the sales of Hornets tickets Condition.

Although Li Lai's current worth and assets no longer need to worry too much about the sales of team tickets, he is very clear that the sales of tickets are related to the team's performance and the expectations of the fans for the team.

Even the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony only had an attendance rate of 80%. One can imagine how bleak the attendance rate would be if other teams came to New Orleans.

"But as I said, it only takes one regular season for the Hornets to regain the confidence of all the New Orleans fans."

Of course, what needs more attention before this is the preseason.

Li Lai deliberately checked the abilities of all the current Hornets players.

克里斯·保罗能力值92、德安德烈·乔丹能力值81、文斯卡特能力值79、JR史密斯能力值79、伦纳德能力值78、拉沙德·刘易斯能力值77、威利-格林能力值71、吉米巴特勒能力值71、杰森-史密斯能力值70、帕特里克·贝弗利能力值69、路易斯·阿蒙德森能力值68、DJ-姆本加能力值65。

After seeing the abilities of the players, Li Lai couldn't help but heaved a long sigh.

At present, the overall ability of the Hornets players is indeed far behind those top teams.

At this time, the Hornets don't have the talent to compete with those strong teams on offense and talent. Taking the defensive route is the only possibility to beat them.

"The good thing is that after a month of team training camp, most of the players' abilities have grown significantly, especially Jimmy Butler."

Li Lai was impressed by Jimmy Butler's training and effort throughout the summer. The latter also specially conducted three-point shooting training and defensive training with the help of Vince Carter, as well as learning the timing of passing and cutting.

Li Lai took another curious look at Jimmy Butler's ability with his spiritual sense.

【Jimmy Butler】

【Height 203cm, Weight 104kg, Armspan 202cm】

【Speed ​​76 Strength 51 Layup 76】

[Short shot 71, medium shot 61, long shot 65]

[Dunk 66, Pass 55, Control 55]

[Defense 79 rebounds 57 blocks 71]

[ability value 71, potential value 78]

"and many more!"

"Jimmy's potential value has been directly increased from 75 to 78?!"

"It only took a month!"

Of course, Li Lai remembers that he has the ability to help players improve their potential, just like Westbrook and Curry broke through the bottleneck that they could only achieve with his help.

But those two only increased their potential by one or two points in three years, while Jimmy Butler actually increased his potential by three points in just one month!
According to his crazy improvement, I am afraid that he will be able to reach the potential level of an All-Star player in one season at most.

At this time, Li Lai also once again experienced the diligent story of how Jimmy Butler, the ugly duckling in his previous life, turned into a white swan.

"Players with talent are naturally considered geniuses, but don't ignore hardworking players, they are also considered geniuses."

"They are, hard-working geniuses."

Li Lai then discussed with Stevens and Du Feng the lineup of players for the new season.

Point guard Chris Paul, backup Patrick Beverley.

Shooting guard Leonard, substitute JR Smith, Willie Green.

Small forward Vince Carter and backup Jimmy Butler.

Power forward Rashard Lewis, backup Luis Amundson.

Center DeAndre Jordan, substitute Jason Smith, DJ Mbenga.

Stevens suggested: "The strength of the players in our team is uneven. If we want to achieve more victories in the regular season, Paul must play longer on the court."

"I would recommend Paul play 38 minutes to 40 minutes."

Du Feng also suggested: "Not only Paul, but Vince Carter and DeAndre Jordan should play more time."

"Jimmy Butler's strengths and weaknesses are too obvious. He works hard defensively, but his offense is terrible, so Vince Carter must play more."

"Jason Smith and DJ Mbenga are experienced veterans, but compared with DeAndre Jordan in terms of frame protection and finishing, there is too much difference."

"To get the most out of Paul on the passing end, DeAndre Jordan has to be at the same level as Paul."

After Stevens finished speaking, he waited quietly for Li to make his statement.

He wanted to know whether Li Lai was planning to do badly this season or hit the playoffs.

Although there are many rookies in the Hornets, it is reasonable to say that it is the best choice to play poorly, but after all, there is Chris Paul, the top five point guard in the league, and Paul's contract year is coming next season.

Therefore, Stevens guessed that the probability of Li Lai choosing to perform poorly or not to perform poorly is between 55 and [-].

After all, the Hornets hold three first-round picks next season, and one of them is the Hornets' own pick.

Therefore, in Stevens' view, it is not impossible for Li Lai to choose to hone the two rookies Leonard and Jimmy Butler this season, and then wait for next season to hit the playoffs.

"no!"

Li Lai shook his head at this moment and said.

He also rejected the idea of ​​playing time for a core of Stevens and Du Feng.

Hearing this answer, Stevens sighed secretly. As expected, the Hornets are still planning to do badly, so his tactical talent and ability must not have a chance to be displayed.

In the NBA, only in the playoffs can it be determined whether a player is a superstar or whether a team's coaching staff is capable.

"That's the arena for superstars and legendary coaches."

(End of this chapter)