start with scouting

Chapter 211
After playing the Heat, the Thunder got four days off.

The whole team is training as usual. In order to better observe the players' status, Su Yang deliberately pulled the coaching staff and trainer team to build a data model for each player in the team, and plans to use it in the regular season to facilitate analysis and improve training methods.

In addition to the data model, Su Yang also asked the equipment management department to purchase a batch of software and hardware for recording and analysis.

Compared with the Lakers who still use black and white to record free throw times and shooting percentages, the Thunder are quite ahead.

After two days of working like that, Durant asked a little curiously: "Coach, are we going to implement the magic ball theory? I often use Twitter to see the general manager of the Rockets, emphasizing the role of data in improving the winning rate of the game. Seems complicated."

"This is not the magic ball theory..."

Su Yang explained: "As the times progress, our training methods should also improve, otherwise we will fall behind."

After the NBA entered the second decade of the new century, various technologies gradually matured. The Warriors were the first to introduce high-tech equipment into training, such as using fixed cameras to record shooting trajectories, and then simulated and analyzed to improve better methods.

Stephen Curry benefited a lot from those training methods, and only then did those super individual performances.

As someone who has been here, Su Yang naturally wants to seize the opportunity. The only question is whether the boss Clayton is willing to spend money. After all, it is very expensive to build a set of equipment, and you have to hire someone to manage it. It is difficult to see the effect in a short period of time, and it is easy to appear useless. Useless.

NO.13, the Thunder team flew to Salt Lake City to face the Memphis Grizzlies at the Energy Solutions Arena, home of the Jazz.

It was also an exhibition match in nature, but compared to the previous match in Kansas City, the level of attention was vastly different.

Considering that the Grizzlies have finished running in this season and have a unique slow-paced offensive and defensive style, Su Yang is determined to experiment with the effect of the main pass and cut. Half an hour before the start of the game, he asked the whole team to find opportunities as much as possible.

Westbrook and others took the order to execute, but in the first quarter, they were hammered 22 to 35 behind, and it was difficult to enter the paint area.

During the timeout between quarters, Su Yang told the Thunder generals: "This situation is normal. The main pass and cut tactics are easy to bully those teams with poor defensive discipline, but as you can see, the guys on the opposite side are serious every round. defense..."

The essence of pass-and-cut tactics is a lot of running without the ball to pull the opponent's defensive formation, and pass the ball in a timely manner to assist teammates who have openings or particularly good opportunities. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies are on the inside. not bad.

In the second quarter of the game, Su Yang adjusted his style of play, allowing Harden and Green to lead the team to blast, tying the score in one wave.

The main strategy is dislocation. The Grizzlies are playing traditional defense, but they are at a loss when they encounter the Thunder's strange tricks.

Every time Harden and Green scored goals, assistant coach Brian lamented: "We are too extravagant to use two starters as substitutes..."

Su Yang heard the words and also sighed that the Thunder's five young players can play on the same team. If it didn't happen, it would be hard for fans to believe it. Green, who has been underestimated and proved himself many times, is as outrageous as playing NBA 2K and turning on the forced trading plug-in. Every position must be the strongest.

After halftime, the Thunder overtook the Grizzlies by five points, and Randolph was puzzled when he left the game.

Su Yang returned to the locker room and told the players: "If you want to beat the Grizzlies, apart from a lot of dislocations, there is another way to learn from the Spurs. Even if you hit a high pick-and-roll, you have to use AI cross-cutting and figure-of-eight conduction to initiate. Grizzlies inside.

No matter how strong Marc Gasol's sweeping advantage is, he is still a heavy player after all, and it is easy to get tired after running continuously in a short period of time.

The same routine can also be used against the Bulls in the opening game of the regular season, because the Bulls’ defensive system is supported by Noah of the same type as Marc Gasol. Only by exhausting Noah first, the power of the Bulls’ defensive system will be reduced by [-]% . "

Hearing Su Yang mentioned that the Bulls would be facing off at the end of the month, Durant and the others expressed that it was too exaggerated and too far-sighted.

Su Yang stared at Durant and smiled: "The Chicago Bulls in the new season will definitely surprise you..."

There is also a half sentence of "Derrick Rose will be a strong contender for MVP", Su Yang feels that it is unnecessary to say it for the time being.

In the third quarter, the game started in a blink of an eye. According to Su Yang's arrangement, the Thunder generals began to play super-high consumption offensive routines with the Grizzlies.

As long as the Grizzlies relax a little, Westbrook will rely on his speed advantage to hit the basket, tearing up the defensive formation to a great extent.

The Grizzlies barely parried at the beginning, but after a few rounds, they didn’t know what to do. Their head coach, Hollins, had nothing to do. The whole team could only watch helplessly as the Thunder continued to expand their lead. 22 points behind.

In the fourth quarter, the two teams tacitly dispatched non-contract players, and the Thunder finally beat the Grizzlies by 20 points.

With a three-game winning streak in the preseason, the Thunder team flew back to Oklahoma City. After a day off, they played against CSKA Moscow at home. to four games.

Su Yang's team members had two days off and flew to San Francisco by themselves to meet with people from Sequoia Capital to finalize the investment.

In view of the rapid increase in the number of MT users after the full release of Apple 4, Sequoia Capital made a one-time investment of 6000 million US dollars and sold 8% of Su Yang's equity, which also allowed MT's valuation to increase significantly overnight, which can be regarded as a win-win cooperation.

If nothing else happens, Sequoia will walk away with about a billion dollars, but it can help solve a lot of problems.

With the participation of mature capital, many things don't need to be so much to worry about, and Jiang Ruolan's workload has also been greatly reduced.

The two attended the investment achievement dinner together, and then Su Yang flew back to Oklahoma to continue preparing for the new season.

NO.19, the Thunder challenged the Spurs away.

The team still focused on passing and cutting tactics in the first half, but the Spurs' defense record was as strict as the Grizzlies'. In addition, the Spurs fought with the shameful mentality of last season's sweep, and the offensive end also played well, causing the Thunder to end at halftime. 10 minutes behind.

During the intermission, Su Yang made a decision: the new season will continue to use the previous composite system, and the passing and cutting tactics will only be used as auxiliary.

Snyder and other assistant coaches agreed. The main reason is that although the passing and cutting system can benefit role players, the core ball holder will be weakened, and it is not easy to use against strong defensive teams. There is no need to throw watermelons and pick sesame seeds. The goal is to defend the title.

The second half of the game started immediately, Durant and Westbrook led, Green and Ibaka assisted, and played 22 quick transitions, and finally defeated the Spurs 111 to 102. They won five consecutive victories in the preseason. people.

In the whole game, Green scored 27 points and 9 rebounds, even better than Durant in terms of statistics.

The whole team rushed to Denver overnight to challenge the Nuggets in back-to-back away games. Su Yang symbolically allowed several main players to play for a few minutes per quarter to maintain their state, and used substitutes and players without contracts for the rest of the time. In the end, they lost to the Nuggets 115-130. gold.

Under Su Yang's intentional guidance, Green scored 28 points in 29 minutes of playing, with a very high probability of shooting.

With that kind of operation, Presti called him that night and said that he would get Green's contract renewal as soon as possible.

In the last game of the preseason, the Thunder faced the Hornets at the University of Tulsa, bullying Paul before his comeback, and won by 15 points.

In the early morning of the next day, ESPN data analysis expert Mark Stern released the NBA's new season power rankings, among which the Thunder ranked first, and the Thunder's first opponent in the new season, the Chicago Bulls, ranked No.12 in power. .

Su Yang told Durant the rest of the sentence: Be prepared to compete with Derrick Rose for the MVP.

(End of this chapter)