Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 62 Durant and Leonard

Let me introduce the two sides first. Adu and the others definitely don’t need to introduce each other. They have known each other for a long time in the same league, but the three rookies must have a special talk, especially about their technical characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

If we practice together, sometimes it is inevitable that some things will be exposed, but to be honest, these matches may naturally be collected. It is naive to think that we can gain an advantage without letting others know.

If you want to say that the team really has some secret tactics, it’s okay to temporarily change the situation, but the player’s style cannot be changed overnight.

And like Adu, the longer you play, the more you will be exposed. There is no secret anymore. The problem is that if you know it, you may not be able to guard against it.

Now is the time for rookies to make up for their shortcomings and improve their strengths. It is not terrible to expose their shortcomings. If they play and practice in a targeted manner, they will always get better.

But speaking of it, James Ennis III has the best shooting ability among the three rookies, Robertson has the best defense, and Antetokounmpo of course has the greatest potential.

"You really embarrass people..."

It is natural to let Antetokounmpo and the others show their shooting ability, so that Joep Englander can know what he knows.

Needless to say, Ennis, after watching Antetokounmpo's shooting, he can still accept it, and after watching Robertson, he can't help shaking his head.

It seems that the accuracy seems to be passable, but this is the normal state of confrontation, what are you doing aiming for half a day there?

Moreover, hand shape, body shape, and a lot of shortcomings made England want to complain.

Of course, in the final analysis, it may just be a simple lack of shooting talent.

However, there are still a small number of people who really have high shooting talent, and most of them rely on practice. Robertson's basket level can only be said to have been a little bit skewed since he was a child.

Regardless of the developed basketball system in the United States, there is a whole system from small to large, but when it comes to individuals, they will inevitably lose a lot of talents.

Some performed well in high school and then gradually faded away due to injuries, training and other reasons. Some were star players in college but couldn't adapt to the NBA, and then they were quickly eliminated.

There are also outstanding talents, but because they are selected to teams that are not good at training, good seedlings are ruined in a daze.

If you want to count it down, the untyped ones will naturally be much more than the typed ones.

Robertson is not bad, at least he has outstanding physical talent and good defensive awareness. With these, even if his shooting is unstable, he can still perform well in college.

But now Li Sheng brings him here, of course it is impossible to bring him to practice defense, at least not the head coach of defense.

Of course, the defense will not lose while practicing shooting. This is what Udoka is responsible for. He was in charge of defense when he was in the Spurs.

"Anyway, I'm still in trouble."

Uduka has already communicated with Englander and conveyed his meaning in place, so Englander is also very clear.

However, although he complained a few words, it was just a joke. This is his job. If he shoots well, he may not be able to highlight the effect if he comes to him.

From 0 to 1 and from 1 to 2, there is an essential difference.

"Okay," Englander shrugged, and then said with a smile: "Let's gather together first, and I'll tell you again..."

In addition to Englander, there are already other trainers here. The Spurs came to record Leonard's training, and some were arranged by the gymnasium. Now people from the Thunder have been added, and they can basically provide one-on-one guidance to several players.

Of course, like Durant vs. Leonard, he can also guide the shooting. There is a specialization in the art industry.

The two have now chatted, and it seems that the relationship is not bad.

Most of the players don't directly fight each other in private, and sometimes there will be unexpected relationships for fans. For example, two people who seem to be enemies actually have a good personal relationship.

But after all, they were not very familiar with each other before, so in order to make the trainees get along as soon as possible, the best way in the training is of course "no fight, no acquaintance". Only when each other's strength is recognized can there be mutual respect and joint progress.

So Li Sheng soon saw a heads-up scene on the court. This should be an indispensable item in the training of the players, but it is now ahead of schedule.

Li Sheng was talking to Englander just now, and he didn't notice who provoked it first, but it seemed that the atmosphere was good, so he just watched from the side.

From the beginning, Durant faced Leonard!

Although Leonard at this time did not have as strong offensive ability as in the future, his shooting has been steadily increasing.

Especially for mid-range shooting, his biggest improvement last season was mid-range shooting, because he still maintained a shooting percentage of nearly 50% in the case of more shots in the paint and increased production, and his three-point shooting remained at 37%.

Leonard will continue to improve in the next two seasons. In the 15-16 season, he almost entered the 180 club, and his three-point shooting percentage reached a terrifying 44%. It is hard to imagine that he was originally a defensive role player.

Of course, while distracting the offense, Leonard will inevitably be weakened defensively, but when he needs to stand up, he will still tell you that he is the best defensive player.

Leonard is actually not that kind of talented person. Although he has a pair of amazing big hands, his static and dynamic talents are not the absolute top in the league. What makes him more outstanding should be his hard work and golf quotient.

At the same time, it is also determined by the characteristics of the style of play. He can't do everything like James, and he can't insist on the full output of both offense and defense for a long time.

Especially the injury history has greatly restricted his future achievements. Of course, we still want to name and criticize that scum here. Although he is not the culprit of Leonard's injury, that tiptoe may indeed have affected Leonard's possibly most exciting playoff performance.

Even if the final result of the game against the Warriors has not changed, the content of the game will definitely be very different, and it may also affect Leonard's future career. Even if he will not stay with the Spurs, the career process may be completely different.

Looking at Leonard's strong performance in the Raptors playoffs in the future, people will naturally look forward to what Leonard will look like without injuries and perfect performance. This may be an eternal regret in the hearts of fans.

However, there is never a lack of regrets in this league, and there is never a lack of injuries every season. Even Westbrook, James and Harden of the Iron Man suffered from injuries in the later stages of their careers, which in turn affected their record and personal performance.

In contrast, Leonard, who reached the finals consecutively with the Spurs in two years as a rookie and won the championship and FMVP, is lucky enough.

In the future, Durant and Leonard will compete for the No. [-] small forward in the Western Conference. They have their own strengths and styles. Durant still has an advantage in the early stage, while Leonard has a tendency to come from behind.

The current Leonard is of course not yet perfect, but the difference is more in the offensive aspect, and the defense has already had the embryonic form of the best defensive player.

So now the two are competing with each other in a similar way. Durant, as the current three-time scoring champion, needless to say about his offensive ability, especially in American heads-up, it is as difficult to find an opponent as Anthony.

Although Leonard has not won a defensive team yet, his defense against James in the finals has already qualified him to enter the defensive team discussion.

Facing Durant at this time, although it is impossible to say to prevent him from death, a certain degree of restriction can still be achieved.

Of course, this is to make Durant play more uncomfortable, he can still score.

And after a difficult shot was exchanged for the iron, the offense and defense switched, and this time it became Leonard again who was uncomfortable.

Although Durant's defense is not as good as Leonard's, he has never been in a defensive team in his career, and he can't brag about how good his defense is.

But his weaknesses are more in the area of ​​staring off the ball and assisting in defense. In single defense, he can still interfere with Leonard as much as possible by relying on his long arms and his athletic ability at this time.

The main reason is that Leonard's current personal offensive ability is not enough. It is not easy to get rid of Durant's defense, and it is difficult to guarantee efficiency when shooting after being covered by Durant.

Facing a strong opponent like Durant, Leonard is obviously also very excited. Although he can't see this kind of emotion on his paralyzed face, his body language can't lie.

(End of this chapter)