Pick Westbrook

Chapter 296 It's Him

Wells Fargo Center Arena.

The Hornets are about to usher in their second game.

At this time, Li took a look at the news from Hammond on his mobile phone. More and more bars and entertainment venues in New Orleans were watching the Hornets game regularly.

This is exciting enough news.

Of course, there is still a long way to go to completely reverse the concept of New Orleans fans and make them fall in love with this team again.

Before Li Lai had time to continue discussing with Hammond on how to help New Orleans fans build trust in the team, Iverson, who was wearing a hip-hop suit, a big gold chain and a gentleman hat, walked away excitedly. come over.

Iverson first jumped directly on Li Lai's body, then gave Li Lai a high five, and finally hugged Li Lai forcefully.

"Coach, I miss you so much."

Iverson has chosen to retire after the end of last season, and now he has become a star of the 76ers. Because he knew that Li Lai was coming tonight's game, he came to the Wells Fargo Center Arena to watch the game.

Li Lai and Iverson chatted for a long time. Iverson told Li Lai that the 76ers will retire his jersey next season, and he also hoped that the other party would come that day.

If Iverson has the opportunity to enter the Hall of Fame in the future, he also hopes that Li Lai can come to witness his own moment on that day.

In Li's view, Iverson is bound to enter the Hall of Fame, because he has left too many things for the league and fans all over the world.

However, after seeing Iverson's trendy outfit, Li Lai said with a look of contempt: "You have too many fans, you might ruin a lot of fans with your outfit."

Iverson remembered what kind of trend his own hip-hop outfit had caused in the fan circle, and was finally banned by the league officials, so he couldn't help but smile at this time.

Iverson talked about the key thing: "The 76ers are no longer the 76ers of last season. We are stronger this season, so the Hornets don't want to take away the victory here tonight."

Li Lai looked at Iverson's arrogant face, and knew that this was the opponent's court trash talk. Li Lai, who was already accustomed to the NBA culture, naturally did not give in.

He sprayed back directly and said: "I will let you know in this game tonight, your coach is still your coach."

The big screen in the stadium quickly displayed the starting list for tonight's game.

Hornets starting lineup: point guard Chris Paul, shooting guard Leonard, small forward Vince Carter, power forward Rashard Lewis and center DeAndre Jordan.

76ers starting lineup: point guard Jrue Holiday, shooting guard Andre Iguodala, small forward Evan Turner, power forward Elton Brand and center Spencer Hall His.

Stevens also saw the 76ers' bench list on the roster in his hand, Lou Williams, Jodi Meeks, Thaddeus Young and Nikola Vucevic .

He reminded Li Lai: "Louis Williams is a master of chaos. He scored the team's highest score of 23 points in the previous game against the Grizzlies."

"So don't look at him as a substitute player, I'm afraid he is the strongest in the 76ers in terms of scoring ability."

Li Lai naturally knew Lu Wei's scoring ability and his ability to break through the opponent's entire defense line during disruptive battles. He was very satisfied with Stevens' pre-match preparations, so he nodded and signaled the opponent to continue talking.

Stevens, who was praised by Li Lai, said more confidently: "Jordy Meeks is a three-pointer. He made 40% of his three-pointers last season, and his production is extremely high. He is very good at open shots. confident."

"But it's worth mentioning that neither Jodie Meeks nor Lou Williams is good at defense."

"Thaddeus Young has excellent physical fitness and has complete combo forward offensive skills. He is an out-and-out talent monster."

"Nikola Vucevic is the No. 16 pick this year. He also had an outstanding performance against the Grizzlies in the last game, and he can shoot three-pointers!"

"This is an extremely rare ability among center forwards."

Li Lai nodded, and was extremely satisfied with Stevens' pre-match analysis, which is why Iverson believes that the 76ers this season are stronger than last season.

In the absence of core players leaving the team, the 76ers' bench depth and strength have indeed improved significantly compared to last season.

But in Li's view, they still have many problems.

Li said: "Louis Williams is suitable for playing with the ball. Although he can pass the ball, only the breakthrough to attract double-teams is the most threatening pass. He does not have a strong ability to sort out offensive teammates."

"So as long as the defense against Louis Williams can see his breakthrough, the offensive threat of Louis Williams will be greatly reduced."

"Of course, pay special attention to his pick-and-roll. Lou Williams' pick-and-roll is very experienced."

"As for Jody Meeks, his three-point threat is indeed a threat, but only three-point threats, and his defensive holes are more serious than Lou Williams."

"Thaddeus Young doesn't handle the ball well. Even among power forwards, this ability is not particularly outstanding. At the same time, he only has the size of a small forward. He is particularly vulnerable to rebounding and defense when he is protecting the rim inside."

"So the 76ers' coaching staff is also very difficult to use Thaddeus Young. Playing a small forward does not have an excellent mid-range shooting ability, and playing a power forward cannot help defend the inside and grab rebounds."

"Nikola Vucevic is a good player, but he has too little experience and his skills are not polished enough. In short, he has not yet grown into a player who can threaten us."

Hearing Li Lai's extremely detailed evaluation, Stevens' previous self-confidence disappeared.

He found that even in the pre-match player analysis and strength and weakness analysis that an assistant coach should do, Li Lai did a better job than him.

The confidence and ability that Stevens had built up throughout the NCAA were gone at this moment, and he even had the idea that he could not help Li Lai too much at all.

Stevens still remembers that when he came to the Hornets for an interview, he was extremely confident in his own strength and believed that he would be able to play the role of the Hornets' chief assistant coach, even if he became the team's head coach. .

But after only two games in the regular season, Stevens had great doubts about his ability. He almost thought that he couldn't even be an assistant coach.

Seeing the changing emotions on Stevens' face, Li Lai patted him on the shoulder and said, "This is only your second game in the NBA, and you have performed well enough."

Stevens glanced at Li Lai gratefully. He had already noticed that this head coach seemed very different from other head coaches he had contacted before.

on the field.

The referee blows his whistle and the game begins.

Midfield jump ball, Jordan Jr. clicked the ball from Spencer Hawes.

Hornets attack.

Paul advanced with the ball, Leonard moved from the weak side to the left without the ball, Lewis made an off-ball pick-and-roll from the waist and then cut inside, while setting an off-ball screen for Jordan.

The continuous pick-and-roll coordination caused the 76ers' defense to suddenly have a short-term defensive gap. Jordan put on the pick-and-roll, and Paul used the pick-and-roll to break through the basket.

The 76ers power forward Elton Brand and center Spencer Hawes chose to shrink the basket at the same time, not giving Jordan an easy lob opportunity.

But this point of Paul has completely turned into a situation where the small fights the big.

boom!
Faced with such a defensive strategy, Paul shot very resolutely.

Spencer - Hawes has been very good defense, but still by a slightly faded mid-range Paul shot.

"The overall defense of the 76ers is much better than that of the Knicks in the last game. They hardly gave Jordan a chance to easily complete the empty dunk."

Kenny Smith couldn't help but praise.

Barkley said: "But the Hornets' offense is even more incomprehensible. Unless Paul feels cold in tonight's game, otherwise their defensive strategy will only make Paul completely crazy on the court."

This is the tough strength that the Hornets have shown in just a few preseason games and the regular season.

Barkley wanted to say that Li Lai really understood Paul very well, and he knew very well how to maximize this player's abilities.

The original lineup of the Hornets is not impeccable, at least Lewis at the power forward position is difficult to play the role of a starter.

But Barkley never imagined that Li Lai actually arranged Leonard's defensive strategy of shrinking the inside defense, and at the same time let Paul and Vince Carter appear in the defense position.

Barkley, who was born as a player, knows very well that this defensive arrangement looks very simple, but it has extremely high requirements for players.

Whether it is the accuracy of defensive positioning or the timeliness of double-teaming and returning to defense, there are very high requirements for players on the field.

"Chris Paul, who has been selected to the best defensive team, should be able to do this, and the experienced Vince Carter has a high probability."

"But Leonard, a rookie, and Lewis, who is ready to get stuck at any time, can also do these defensive details in place, which is completely beyond my expectations."

In Barkley's view, it was Li Lai who solved the defensive problem of Lewis at the power forward position, and the latter's excellent shooting ability will show a great effect on the court.

Swish!
In the next round, the Hornets attacked again. This time Elton Brand chose to shrink the inside line to help defend Jordan's alley dunk.

But this time, Paul found Lewis' position accurately, and the latter hit a three-pointer.

76ers coaching bench.

Coach Doug Collins frowned.

The Hornets' offense is good, but this is not his biggest concern, because compared with the Bucks' stormy offense, their offense is still acceptable.

Doug Collins' real concern is the Hornets' defense.

on the field.

Jrue Holiday advances with the ball.

Although compared with Paul, his ability to pass and sort out the ball is not as abnormal as the opponent, but Jrue Holiday is also a player who can pass and sort out the offense.

Most of the 76ers' offense in the starting lineup stage was also initiated by Jrue Holiday.

Iguodala intersects the court, and Vince Carter always follows closely.

The 76ers chose the waist singles tactic. Iguodala was placed on the right waist, all weak-side players were cleared, and Jrue Holiday passed the ball.

"It's a one-on-one."

"The singles position chosen by the 76ers is very targeted. Lewis can't play singles because Leonard's double-teams will come, but Vince Carter's singles will do."

"If Leonard on the strong side dares to double-team at this time, Jody Meeks' three-pointers are not vegetarian."

The moment Barkley's voice fell, Lewis, who was on the strong side, rushed forward.

In this scene, Barkley and Kenny Smith were both stunned at the same time.

"Lewis to double-team?"

At this time, Barkley noticed that Leonard did not know when he appeared in the defense position. He was defending Jody Meeks and Elton Brand at the same time.

Because Jordan is on the same side and the inside line is too crowded, Elton Brand has no chance to hit the basket at this time. He can only prepare to receive the ball on the other side of the waist at most.

But this position is too far from the basket, and Leonard is in front of him, and Elton Brand doesn't have such an easy chance to score.

If Iguodala chooses to pass the ball to Jody Meeks in the corner at this time, Leonard's lateral speed and defensive alertness can quickly transfer over.

For Leonard, just assisting in defending the open attack is completely sufficient.

"So, the Hornets still took advantage of Leonard's defensive ability to completely restrict the 76ers' offense."

Barkley couldn't help but exclaimed at this time.

If the defense shown by the Hornets in the preseason and the first game of the regular season was directly using Leonard's help defense, then they are using it indirectly now.

Leonard is not allowed to directly participate in the double-teaming of offensive players, so as to reduce the problem that he is too far away from the strong-side offensive players. Instead, let Lewis double-team and let Leonard stay on the strong-side to help defend.

"This is no longer a defensive system that an ordinary coach can create!"

"Li Lai maximized Paul's abilities on the offensive end, and at the same time utilized Leonard's abilities and characteristics to the extreme on the defensive end."

"What kind of coach is he?!"

Kenny Smith couldn't help asking such questions.

Barkley was silent and said: "If you don't look at Li Lai's achievements in the Bucks, then just his performance this season, I would like to call him a defensive coach."

"And he's a top-notch defensive coach in the league."

"In terms of defensive arrangement, he is very similar to Mike Brown. They are both very good at arranging double-team defenses on the strong and weak sides, and at the same time will not let players lose their positions easily."

"When Mike Brown was coaching James and Larry Hughes, he often used these two defensive tactics at critical moments."

Kenny Smith turned around and said very puzzled: "But we have seen those achievements that Li Lai achieved in the Bucks!"

"He turned that stadium into a league-leading offensive team, even a historic offensive team."

"Who in the league doesn't know about the Bucks' offense?"

At this time, Barkley looked at Li Lai, who was on the coaching bench of the Hornets, very solemnly. He said seriously: "So, he is the head coach who combines offense and defense."

Hearing Barkley's comment, Kenny Smith took a deep breath in shock, because he immediately thought of the name of a head coach because of the words "integration of offense and defense".

Barkley looked at Kenny Smith and nodded solemnly, "That's him!"

(End of this chapter)