start with scouting

Chapter 117 The Founding of the Dynasty
In three days, the Thunder finished their second straight away game in the Pacific Division and were lucky to win their second straight.

But Su Yang really wanted to lose, mainly to protect the draft pick, and the Thunder's top five picks were already in jeopardy.

But the Warriors and Clippers played badly without any scruples, practicing rookies in various ways, and allowing potential trading players to brush up their data.

The Celtics' Big Three team successfully won the championship in the first year, which greatly stimulated many teams in the league. It turned out that they didn't need to cultivate their own rookies, or even spend time building an offensive and defensive system. As long as they formed a Big Three lineup, they could hit the championship.

However, winning is also valuable. Wilcox's average rebounds per game have increased significantly, and the transaction value has become greater.

Back at home, when the Thunder faced the Nets, Su Yang continued to use Earl Watson and Wilcox on the bench, letting the former be responsible for shooting and hitting the iron, and let the latter be responsible for rushing to grab offensive rebounds, fully showing Wilcock His rebounding ability.

Originally, I wanted to lose a game and keep the draft pick.

But that once thought that Earl Watson was in a brave state, and he actually led the bench into a wave, leading by nearly [-] points.

Seeing the situation, Su Yang didn't force it. At the end of the game, the Thunder beat the Nets 104-85.

After a three-day break, the Thunder hosted the Grizzlies, who had changed their coach for the second time this season.

The Grizzlies are also one of the bad teams, with a 10-game losing streak against the Thunder and a 7-game losing streak before that.

Fortunately, the new head coach of the Grizzlies, Lionel Hollins, found the right direction to lead the team forward, and chose the dead grass main player strategy, allowing Gasol Jr., Mayo, Conley, and Gay to start. Time to fight.

Su Yang didn't dare to underestimate the enemy, and dispatched troops throughout the process, but he was still dragged to the last moment.

He designed a lore tactic for Durant. He never thought that Durant made a mistake, which caused Gay to dunk and score a tie.

During the timeout, seeing that Durant blamed himself a little, Su Yang made up his mind temporarily and encouraged Durant to control the overtime.

Durant confidently agreed, and in the subsequent overtime games, he scored 8 points and directly crushed the Grizzlies.

At the end of the game, Su Yang arranged for Chucky Atkins, who had just joined the team, to play, which was enough respect for the veteran who had been fighting for many years. By the way, he cooperated with the general manager Presti and asked Atkins to collect some data to facilitate future transactions. .

After beating the Grizzlies, the Thunder embarked on a two-game losing streak. They suffered a bloodbath of 20 points from the Jazz, and they lost back to back to the Kings by 2 points.

After three days of rest, the Thunder will play the Nuggets at home.

Su Yang made all-out arrangements, forcing the game to the last 12 seconds, and then arranged a lore tactic for Durant. Durant lived up to expectations and successfully scored a mid-range shot. But with five seconds left, Durant assisted in the defense. Not in place, Anthony counter-lore.

At the end of the game, the whole team returned to the locker room. Su Yang publicly encouraged Durant to increase his awareness of assisting defense. He believed that he could help the team with assisting defense, just like the legendary star Magic Johnson. win.

But Su Yang did not force Durant to assign training tasks. He just reminded him to help Durant build up his consciousness. After all, the road has to be walked step by step. Durant's most important task right now is to enhance his offensive ability with the ball.

On February [-]th, the Thunder played against the Trail Blazers at home.

Su Yang faced his old club for the first time, and found that the Blazers' record was not bad, but he embarked on a road of no return.

Webster suffered a serious injury at the beginning of the season and was reimbursed for the season, while Jarrett Jack and Mike Roberts were sent to the Pacers, which greatly reduced the Blazers' bench strength, requiring Roy and other main players to play longer, and the risk of injury increased greatly.

Compared with the several substitutes who were sent away, the biggest difference is that Oden returned from injury and directly served as the starting center, resulting in a significant reduction in the playing time of the two centers, Przybilla and Frye, of which Frye was reduced to less than 12 minutes per game .

The embarrassing thing is that Oden can't provide the corresponding effect. He averages nearly four fouls per game, and averages 5.8 turnovers out of 1.9 shots per game. The mid-range shots and free throws are also unqualified. interior space.

The Blazers did not accept the suggestion left by Su Yang at the beginning, and patiently cultivated Auden, and let Auden start from a pure blue-collar worker.

To put it simply, the Blazers are eager for quick success and want to stabilize their record and launch an impact towards the championship.

He was a little speechless about that change, but he was no longer a member of the Trail Blazers, so he couldn't make suggestions.

Before the game started, ESPN joked that the Blazers had changed from agile and comprehensive to cumbersome and single again.

Su Yang asked the players to restrict Aldridge from taking the ball inside, which made Adelaide's shooting rate extremely high, but he only took 11 shots.

After the whole game, the Thunder still played with 8 players, beating the Trail Blazers 102 to 93.

After the game, he wanted to invite a group of old friends to dinner, but unfortunately the Blazers flew back to Portland overnight.

At noon on the [-]th, Su Yang happened to witness the completion of the Sefoloza transaction in the Thunder training base.

Different from the original idea, the Bulls did not ask the Thunder for any players, only a late first-round pick, as if getting rid of the plague, and sent Sefoloza away impatiently. Fortunately, both teams have salary space, so they can Never even a trade.

During the whole process, Su Yang was dumbfounded. He thought that the general manager of the Bulls John Paxson would hurt the Bulls more than the parallel import coach Vinidnagro. The key is that Paxson can continue to work for the Bulls.

Paxson is also a typical example of eager for quick success. During his tenure as the general manager of the Bulls, he made major changes to the lineup almost every year. The core of the team could not be stabilized at all, which led to the lack of clear goals and the inability of the head coach to establish a perfect offensive and defensive system.

The deal was done, and Sefolosha flew to Oklahoma that night for a hasty medical.

On the afternoon of the [-]th, the NBA officially approved the transaction, and Su Yang met Sefoloza at the training base.

The two talked in detail in the coach's office. Su Yang bluntly believed in Sefolosha's defensive ability and prepared Sefolosa to defend against Kobe and other outside masters, but he also needed Sefolosa to practice shooting, especially the open space. three points.

Strictly speaking, it is the most basic requirement for a player as a shooting guard to be able to shoot open three-pointers well.

But for Sefolosha, the pressure to shoot open three-pointers is quite high, perhaps because the skill points are all added to defense.

But Sefolosha must practice an average three-pointer, otherwise Westbrook will inevitably encounter a flank when he plays a pick-and-roll outside.

For Su Yang's request, Sefolosa promised to meet it, and went to the trainer to make a plan after the conversation.

On the contrary, Su Yang told him not to worry. After all, there are still 32 games and a long off-season. He can practice before next year's playoffs. Don't put too much pressure on himself, because even Jordan has to do things like shooting. Practice for a long time.

That night, the Thunder faced the Kings and narrowly won by 3 points.

杜兰特狂砍39分4助攻7篮板，并贡献2次盖帽和2次抢断，协防帮助极大。

After beating the Kings, the Thunder embarked on a two-way journey, starting with the Los Angeles Lakers, the No. 2 player in the Western Conference.

Su Yang directly arranged for the new player Sefrosa to start the game, and gave him the task of focusing on marking Kobe.

But at the end of the game, the Thunder lost 97 to 103. Kobe made 21 of 13 shots and scored 36 points.

Sefolosha didn't restrict Kobe very well, Su Yang was neither disappointed nor anxious, and encouraged him to come back next time.

Subsequently, the Thunder challenged the Trail Blazers in back-to-back away games, and lost 14 points due to lack of physical strength. The only bright spot was that Sefolosha successfully restricted Brandon Roy, making Roy only 18 of 7 shots, and also caused Batum twice through assist defense. mistake.

The whole team flew back to Oklahoma overnight. Su Yang was about to sleep in the early morning, but he received a call from Presti.

Presti said that the Tyson Chandler deal was completed, and the Thunder sent Wilcox, Joe Smith and the second-round pick Diwan Harding to sign, and would follow Su Yang's suggestion, ignore Chandler's toe injury, and guarantee the deal successfully passed.

After hanging up the phone, Su Yang was very happy. The foundation laying of the Thunder Dynasty was considered complete, and he also lamented that Paul's career luck was too bad.

The management of the Hornets is also eager for quick success, thinking that Paul was ranked second in the MVP before, and the Hornets reached the Western Conference semifinals. This season, they want to hit the Western Conference Finals or the championship. They forced Chandler to play with injuries and sent Chandler away halfway through the season. .

Even if the Thunder did not reach a deal with the Hornets, after the end of the season, Chandler will still be sent to the Bobcats.

In any case, Paul will lose the center with whom he cooperated very well, and will never meet the same level again.

After waking up at noon, Su Yang started the five-day All-Star Weekend holiday, preparing to do a big business worth tens of billions.

(End of this chapter)