beast basketball

Stephen knew very well that offense is the key to a good game, and defense is the key to winning. This is an unbreakable truth. The key to why the Spurs were able to win the fourth game is that their defense is better than the offense of the Sonics. At the same time, their defense is not bad.

The current main lineup of the Supersonics, the main weakness is the point guard. The inside defense is not good. The existing players are the type who are stronger in defense than offense. Durant's defense is not very good, but it is also Not too bad, the reason is that he has height and speed.

Many players will underestimate Durant because of his stature and rookie status. In essence, Durant's height and wingspan advantage make many opponents dare not shoot easily when facing him , and it is not so easy to break through him. Those who think that he is not flexible when he is tall are all wrong.

Durant's weakness is lack of strength and confrontation, but generally when facing this type of player, he will switch positions with Stephen to defend, so his position cannot be regarded as a loophole for the team. As for Stephen, it goes without saying. As a perimeter player, he won the best defensive player of the season, and his defense, especially his individual defensive ability, is completely at the league's top level.

The only disadvantage is that Stephen has to take on the team's offense, so he can't invest too much energy in defense. Therefore, when Stephen puts his personal energy into offense, the team lacks a good outside defensive player. Both Erkins and Szczerbiak are only good at offense, and their defense is at the lower level of the league.

Therefore, in addition to needing a point guard who does not suffer from height and strength, the team also needs an outside defensive player. Like Sean Battier, he has a little bit of offensive means.

In addition to this, after the departure of Kurt Thomas and Robert Swift, if Kurt Thomas cannot be signed back with a low salary, the team still needs an excellent inside player. The defense can be worse, but the offense is better. .

In this way, the team's main lineup is center Coupard, power forward Wilcox, small forward Durant, shooting guard Stephen, point guard Watson or Ridnour, and then the bench The lineup has Wilkins, a strong point guard, perimeter defender and interior offensive player.

The regular rotation lineup of nine people has basically met the needs, and then randomly find a few role players, a lineup with a reasonable offensive and defensive balance, and a good salary structure is formed. Reinforcing, but not substantially overspending.

But if you think this way, you may not be able to find a player who fully meets the requirements. Just like **Vichitch has been looking for a successor for Bruce Bowen for several years, but he has not found one yet. One season has passed. Uduri obviously did not meet his requirements.

But it is reasonable to plan and plan well, and then trade according to this, and if you can’t reach it, let’s talk about this year’s draft, neither Presti nor Carlesimo have any hope.

It is not that there are no good seedlings in this year's draft. Among the players who have signed up for the draft, there are several rookies who are very suitable for the needs of the team. Only the Sonics have one.

The Spurs still can't get rid of the fate of low draft picks. Originally, in Stephen's trade, they got the first round picks of this year and the next year. He couldn't score in the game because he knew that Bennett would not have any big investment in the team this season.

As long as it is a team that has not entered the playoffs, their first-round picks need to be determined by lottery. This may get any pick in the lottery, and finally it is possible to get a high pick. At the position, Vicki told the ball control department to pay close attention to those star-level college players.

However, as the season progressed, the Supersonic team's record became better and better. **Vichitch was very disappointed. The only thing he could comfort himself was that he was ranked higher than his own players, but by the end of the season, The Sonics became No. [-] in the West.

The picks behind the lottery are ranked in reverse order by the teams entering the playoffs. The Sonics have the second best record in the league, and the No. 20 pick is the No. 24 pick. The Spurs themselves also got one. [-]th is their new high in recent years.

But for the Sonics, this is good news, because they still have a first-round pick traded from the Phoenix Suns. Originally, according to pre-season estimates, the Suns should become the top pick in the West as before. Three teams, the first-round pick is a standard chicken threat. Who knows that the Suns will suddenly decline this season. If the decline is not stopped at the last critical moment, they may even fall out of the playoffs.

However, their record was also the eighth in the West in the end. According to the record ranking, it was only a little better than the Atlanta Hawks, which ranked eighth in the East, so they got the No. 16 pick. For the Sonics, it can be regarded as one. Good news.

What kind of player can be selected for the [-]th pick? In this year, which is not considered a draft year, the [-]th pick can at most choose a player of the general main rotation level, but this is for the Sonics. That's enough. Presti naturally has his own set of standards for how to select players who have growth potential and also meet the needs of the team.

He needs to make a further evaluation of the existing candidates, and then determine whether he can select this player in the case of the [-]th overall pick. If this player is urgently needed, he may need to trade further. To improve the pick, if there is no player with much interest, then you can get compensation through trading instead of wasting a player you don't need.

This is his job with Carlesimo. Stephen has no opinion on who to choose. He is a second-round pick himself, and he has a natural hostility towards high-ranking draft picks, and he has already gone to the Chinese national team at that time. Reported, no time to learn more about these.

After the three reached a consensus on all this, Carlesimo left first, and then Stephen and Presti discussed Coupard's contract extension.

Coupard's performance in the early part of this season is eye-catching. Compared with him in the Clippers period, he has reached a level both on the offensive and defensive ends, but after getting enough playing time, he has not achieved much. The strides that many expected.

He did not become a first-class inside player, or the defense is considered first-rate, but the offense can only be regarded as second-rate. This kind of performance is not enough to become the core of the team's inside line, but now that excellent inside lines are so scarce, he can occupy a stable position in a team. The main center position is still more than enough.

Stephen will naturally not let Coupard suffer, but he also knows that it is impossible to ask for a contract with an annual salary of tens of millions for Coupard. After discussions between Resti and Stephen, they decided to give Coupard a five-year contract with a starting salary of $650 million.

This season is already the third season of Coupard's career. The contracts of lottery rookies are standard two plus one plus one specifications. The team can implement his fourth-year contract, but it can also be signed now. Renew the contract with him directly.

But according to Larry Bird's terms, if Coupard renews his contract now, the Sonics can only offer him a five-year contract, and the salary can only start with a fixed salary in the fourth year, and then in the annual salary In terms of increase, it cannot be maximized.

But if the four-year contract is executed, he will fully meet the requirements of Larry Bird's terms. Although the Supersonics will not offer him a maximum salary contract, they can offer him a six-year contract. The annual salary increase can also reach the highest 500%, so that Coupard can get a six-year [-] million contract.

Stephen was discussing with Presti to decide Coupard's fate, when the phone rang suddenly, Stephen saw that it was Mo Xueru who called, and when he answered, it turned out that she and Situ Yulin had come to call Stephen cheered, and now they have arrived at the airport, and want Stephen to pick them up.

Stephen said sorry to Presti, Presti expressed understanding, young man, it is normal, Stephen left in a hurry, throwing Coupard's contract matters aside.