Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 54

Of course, Li Sheng didn't really think that Durant is the number one in the league. Even if he is a fan of Shuangjun, he is still very rational in this cognition.

After all, this kind of thing always needs to be based on facts, which are typed out rather than spoken out. If there is no good personal data and good team performance, then few people will recognize it.

Before James won the championship, would anyone think that he was No. 1 in the league? At most, they only thought that he might become No. 1 in the league in the future.

And at least in Li Sheng's previous life, Durant himself did not have the performance of the No.1 or strongest player in the league in any year. Even in his MVP season, most people still think that James is stronger than him.

As for the discussion about his "No.21" in the 1st playoffs, it turned out to be a joke.

To put it bluntly, it is still a winner and a loser. If he leads the team back in the second year and successfully avenges the Bucks and at least reaches the finals, then the discussion can continue, and the result is swept out in the first round.

Under such a glaring failure, no one would care about Harden's degradation, no one would care about the fairy's showmanship forcing Harden away, no one would care that the atmosphere in the Nets' locker room was no longer right, and no one would talk about Nash's coaching, and no one would say that Durant's return from a serious injury is worthy of consideration.

Everyone will only say that after Durant left the Warriors, he would never win a championship again. His championship and FMVP were won on the shoulders of the Warriors and Curry.

In particular, there is a corresponding comparison, that is, the Warriors have reached the finals again, and they are basically the same group of people. Doesn't this prove that Durant is the one who picked peaches in the finals?
In short, failure is failure. To paraphrase the phrase that has become a meme, it’s the same when you lose, but you can’t go to heaven if you win?

So unless Durant leads the team to win the championship in the future, I am afraid that Green's formula will not be washed away in this life.

However, Li Sheng actually thinks that Durant has the possibility of becoming the number one in the league, or not only him, but also Curry, but in the final analysis it still depends on their respective career plans and fortunes.

As for the evaluation from the outside world, in fact, the most fundamental thing is to implement their achievements. Of course, Durant alone will not do it, nor will Westbrook, so now there is Li Sheng.

To put it bluntly, if Durant can win a championship first in the Thunder, the value of the home team championship will be enough to overwhelm James in the public opinion situation compared with the Big Three.

If he can win two or even three consecutive championships, then needless to say, even if James has more MVPs than him and better statistics than him, he will still be suppressed by him.

Li Sheng is confident that he can help him do this.

Not for anything else, even if it's just to overwhelm James. (James: What kind of hatred?)

But what Li Sheng said now in this TNT studio, in front of Barkley and O'Neill, is naturally not convincing.

They can play and understand the game.

Is Durant strong?Strong, but his weakness is not invisible to everyone.

In the same way, James is also strong, and he also has weaknesses. It just so happens that his weakness is Durant's strength, and it is the only place where Durant can beat him, and that is shooting.

Durant has a historical level of shooting talent. It is said that he has been training hard for a season in his rookie season.

If there is one person in the team who can help Durant share the pressure of offense and defense and allow him to allocate his physical strength reasonably, then Durant can really become a BUG of the team, and indiscriminate singles can also become a reality.

This was the case with Durant during the Warriors period. It seemed that he didn't use his full strength, and scoring was like finding something out of a pocket. Defense and confrontation also made great progress. At that time, he could really fight James.

To put it bluntly, the types of the two are different. Durant belongs to the "icing on the cake" type. The stronger the team, the stronger he is, so he can become a big killer in international basketball in the US national team.

Moreover, Durant, who focuses on scoring and defense, can be more relaxed and perform better without doing the work of the organization he is least suitable for.

With such a direction, Li Sheng certainly hopes that the Thunder's Durant will embark on such "the most difficult road" ahead of schedule.

And now the praise of Durant can be regarded as deliberate, to coax children.

Treating different players requires different attitudes. Durant's sensitivity really needs to be coaxed by the team.

But that's the end of the point, so what Li Sheng thinks is to blow him up more outside, and naturally he should ask for it when he is in the team.

So he said this in an interview before, but when he talked with Durant privately, he still made some demands on him.

He also believes that Durant is willing to change himself in order to achieve results, and whether he will expand in the future is a matter for the future.

But now that he came here, facing these commentators and possibly the audience in front of the screen, he changed back to the previous statement.

I don't know if Durant would think he was capricious if he saw what he said in front of the TV.

"Maybe we should change the topic..." Smith said suddenly at this time. Barkley knew that this partner was bad, so he immediately realized what he meant, and laughed, "Maybe this shouldn't be a topic. After all, we have reached a conclusion and we don't need to discuss it."

Li Sheng could also hear their yin and yang aura, so he just shrugged his shoulders, with the look of "do you believe it or not".

Although opinions differ, the atmosphere in the studio is good.

Next, we stopped sticking to that topic, and everyone naturally talked about Li Sheng himself.

Compared with Thunder's future, many people are actually curious about Li Sheng's past.

"I heard that you took the coaching certification test on a whim after graduating from college, and then went to the Lakers, Suns, Kings, Bucks and Spurs for interviews, and it turned out that only the Spurs gave you the opportunity?"

Li Sheng joked: "They gave me a chance, and I will return them a championship."

"LOL……"

Naturally, Li Sheng didn't think so, what he said was actually a recent meme on the Internet.

I have to say that sand sculpture netizens are everywhere, and they are very talented.

Many people also think that Li Sheng has a bit of a lucky star temperament, which is also the key to the Thunder's selection of him as the coach.

After all, many people in the Spurs think that they are too old to die. As the defending champion, the Heat are in full swing, and many people are optimistic about their second team.

Of course, many people are actually optimistic that the Thunder can do a lot in the playoffs, but Westbrook's injury made all this come to naught. They were eliminated without even meeting the Spurs.

Otherwise, if the Thunder make it to the Finals, they will be more mature than the last time they played against the Heat, and they will be more favored by the outside world.

Since Brooks coached, although the Thunder's performance has been improving, and the record has remained good in the past two or three years, it has not been able to make further progress, and it feels a bit out of date.

From this perspective, this coaching change is actually justified.

(End of this chapter)