start with scouting

Chapter 219 McMillan's Strongest Skill

The plane arrived in Portland at one o'clock in the morning, and the whole team settled in the Sheraton Hotel next to the airport.

At 10:30 in the morning, Su Yang got up and took the coaching staff to a meeting, intending to find out the reason for the Blazers' five-game winning streak.

The analysis report provided by the scouting department has as many as twelve pages and nearly [-] words. From the Blazers' personnel trade and absence of injuries, to what the opponents did not do well in the first five games, it can be said that every one that contributed to the Blazers The reason for the five-game winning streak.

The most important reason is that the Blazers clearly use Aldridge as the core of their tactics, and the whole team attacks around him.

Roy's style of play as the core of tactics has become the past tense of the Blazers, which is sad but helpless.

The reason for the Blazers to make changes is that in the second half of last season, Aldridge carried the Blazers to the playoffs on both ends of the offense and defense in the case of a large number of injuries on the team, allowing the Blazers to go from the management to the coach. Group, all admit that it is enough to serve as the boss.

The scout report also mentioned: Last season, the Blazers boss Roy complained about too little possession of the ball, but the head coach McMillan believed that Roy was not in good condition, so he firmly let Roy play more off the ball, and all the outside offenses were from security. Initiated by Andre Mueller.

McMillan adheres to the principle of winning the game first, whoever is in good condition will play more, and whoever has the ability will be in charge of command.

"The current Trail Blazers are especially like last season's Mavericks. All offenses revolve around Nowitzki. Our defensive focus at night is to disrupt the rhythm of the Blazers' offensive around Aldridge, so that they don't play so comfortably... "

Su Yang decided on the general direction of defense. As a former assistant coach of the Trail Blazers, he knew very well how to defend against Adelaide.

And other small directions, such as paying attention to pass concealment and decisiveness, are all arranged by several assistant coaches.

At [-]:[-] p.m., the entire Thunder team arrived at the Rose Garden Arena by bus to conduct pre-match training as usual.

Su Yang was interviewed by old acquaintance and Blazers official website reporter Casey Hodell in the media center: "Su, what do you think of our performance last season? Is there any suggestion for us this season? I will pass it on to the management."

Hearing this, Su Yang thought about it, thinking that Kevin Pritchard, who recruited him as the general manager of the Trail Blazers scouts, had already been fired. There is no need to say too much.

Mainly I don’t know what other people Océ will think. What if others think that making suggestions is questioning the professional level?
"Last season, I know the Blazers had a lot of injuries, Roy missed 17 games, Fernandez missed 20 games, Batum missed 45 games, Oden missed 61 games, Przybilla missed 52 games...

But the Blazers finally entered the playoffs with 50+ wins. The players performed very well and were very tenacious.

I think Coach Nate McMillan and the coaching staff have been of great help, the system he's built..."

Su Yang sincerely praised McMillan, because as another coach, encountering the Blazers' injury situation last season, not to mention falling apart, at least the whole team lost their fighting spirit, but McMillan can make the Blazers play in the difficult Western Conference. Into the playoffs.

That was a miracle.

That is McMillan's strongest skill-the lower limit of the coached team will be very high, and a slightly better lineup can win 40+ games.

But McMillan's upper limit for coaching the team is not much higher, because his style is conservative and he suppresses genius creativity. In the past two seasons, he has been the team with the lowest rhythm in the league, but those complicated moves and screens have increased player injuries. sick.

Of course, the Blazers themselves have poor feng shui. No matter who is the coach or the team doctor, there will be several serious injuries every season.

"I wish the Blazers all the best for this game..."

After finishing the interview, Su Yang returned to the locker room and checked with several assistant coaches about the starting players and other game preparations.

The game was broadcast live on ESPN, and the TV on the wall was showing the pre-match discussion programs of the two teams.

"Sorry, interrupted with a breaking news..."

The host Molly suddenly interrupted the discussion between the two guests, "Just now, the Trail Blazers' backup center or power forward Fabricio Oberto announced that he was officially retiring from the NBA due to heart palpitations caused by poor recovery from heart surgery... "

Su Yang was dumbfounded on the spot, how could he bless the Trail Blazers on the front foot, while some Trail Blazers players retired due to injuries on the back foot.

Before being relieved, the host Molly continued: "The Blazers officially announced at the same time that their No. 22 rookie Elliott Williams will undergo knee surgery and is expected to miss all the rest of the season. ..."

Su Yang was completely dumbfounded. Could it be that the Blazers officially announced that they didn't want to repeatedly stimulate the fragile nerves of the fans.

"We seemed to have discussed drafting this rookie. He is a left-handed player like James Harden. He has a good shooting touch, strong scoring ability, excellent defense, and is very motivated..." assistant coach Brian said.

When Su Yang heard the words, he immediately recalled that if the original situation continued, this rookie named Elliott Williams would suffer a left shoulder dislocation shortly after his return from injury, and would be reimbursed for the season again. .

The reason why Su Yang remembers it so clearly is because Elliott Williams is very talented, but potential injuries make many teams dare not make up their minds to cultivate them. Cut soon.

"Maybe we need to invite a Feng Shui master to see if there is anything wrong with the hanging ball hall in the Rose Center..."

Su Yang deeply feels sorry for the Blazers. They can always select players with potential, but it is always difficult to realize them.Suddenly, I thought of the Chase Arena in the future. It seems that Feng Shui is also very bad. After the Warriors moved there, players would always be injured for no reason.

At seven o'clock in the blink of an eye, the pre-match ceremony ended.

The lights in the audience were brightly lit, and the dynamic BGM was played. Ade and Roy walked to the technical stage respectively and asked Su Yang to give high fives.

Seeing the back of Roy turning and walking towards the Trail Blazers bench, Su Yang wanted to stop and say something, but he didn't know what to say.

At the beginning of the preseason, Roy, who was recuperating from his injuries, came back to participate in the game early in order to solve the swelling caused by insufficient blood circulation in his knee. He took the initiative to ask the doctor to remove the remaining 01:30 moon plate, which was really nothing left.

That kind of choice is unnecessary, the key Blazers management actually agreed directly, a typical short-sighted strategy.

Before the injury comes again, there is no guarantee that there will be problems. After all, Wade's meniscus was removed early. Except for one season with a lot of absences, his appearance rate and competitive state in other seasons are not bad. Roy and the management must have a fluke mentality.

But people's physique cannot be generalized.

It's like someone with a ruptured Achilles tendon. After returning from injury, he is still in a sharp state, while someone's competitive state has dropped sharply.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, the referee whistled to remind the game that the game was about to start, and the starting players of the two teams entered the field.

For the Blazers, Andre Miller, Roy, Batum, Aldridge, Marcus Camby.

Su Yang casually glanced at the Blazers' starting lineup, and found that all five of them had an expression of swearing to win. He turned to look at the Blazers bench curiously on the spot, and found that McMillan and others also had the same expression. Like it's about to burn.

　Three shifts today

　　
　
(End of this chapter)