start with scouting

Chapter 357

On May 23, as Su Yang predicted, the Thunder managed to win four games in a row, reversing and eliminating the Spurs.

With the promotion of the Thunder, the schedule of the Western Conference Finals will be released simultaneously. The first game will be held at the Staples Center on May 27.

The match between the Lakers and the Thunder quickly aroused heated discussions.

Stephen Smith, a well-known ESPN commentator, tweeted: "This Western Conference Finals may be the most exciting one in NBA history. Su Yang has led the Thunder to two consecutive championships in the past three seasons, but he is now the Lakers. The head coach of the team needs to lead the team to beat the Thunder. We all know that he has open conflicts with Thunder owner Tom Ward.

This duel is not the end of the grievance, but the beginning of a greater grievance. Judging from the current situation of the Lakers and the Thunder, the two teams may meet in the Western Conference Finals in the next few seasons, just like the Lakers played against the Celtics back then. people. "

NBA star Scottie Pippen tweeted: "Only from the perspective of the game, my greatest interest in this Western Conference Finals is to observe the impact of tactics and individual players' individual abilities on the results of the game. From the Thunder and Spurs series Judging from the results of the game, the Thunder's offensive tactics are not as rich as they were in the 90s, but with the strong personal abilities of Durant and the three, they finally won the series. 4-0 unstoppable."

The number one 'Su Blow' Arenas, who was completely unemployed, tweeted: "As you all know, I have always supported Su Yang, but this time he will compete with those three guys in Oklahoma City, the first time I have challenged him I don’t have absolute confidence, because I am an NBA player, and I can’t think of any way to limit Durant. Maybe Kobe, who is five years younger, can do it, but the Thunder still has Russell Westbrook and James Harden. You can't defend against them alone, you can only shrink the paint area and bet on shooting..."

The three celebrities tweeted, and fans and the media forwarded their comments one after another, generating as many as [-] related tweets in total.

Compared with the comments of the three, the focus of ordinary fans is much simpler. Either they want to see Su Yang slap Thunder boss Tom Ward in the face, or they want to see Su Yang make a fool of himself by being violently beaten by the Thunder. 600 million people watched.

At 24:200 am on the 1000th, the Lakers officially opened the sale of tickets for the first two games of the Western Conference Finals. The minimum price was 5 US dollars, and the average price was [-] US dollars, far exceeding the previous lowest and average price of the Knicks home court. , As a result, it was sold out in no less than [-] minutes, and many people called and queued for potential refunds.

ESPN quickly gave the prediction results of 14 commentators, 8 of whom supported the Lakers and 6 supported the Thunder.

The 8 commentators who supported the Lakers mainly mentioned that the Lakers won all three games in the regular season, and Curry came back. Although the defensive end has not improved, it has greatly improved the Lakers' outside deterrence ability, relieved Kobe's defensive pressure, and allowed the Lakers to attack. qualitative change.

The 6 commentators who supported the Thunder mainly mentioned that after the Lakers lost Bynum, their ability to protect the frame plummeted, and the Thunder's three young men were very good at attacking the basket. In addition, the Lakers' wing and backcourt defense was far inferior to the Spurs. It was more ferocious before.

The major casinos in Las Vegas also gave odds for advancing to the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers were only a little lower than the Thunder, with a 1.5-point lead in the first game.

The outside world was buzzing, and the Lakers practiced step by step. After all, the Thunder were their opponents before the fourth game was over.

After a few days, Su Yang has worked with the coaching staff and the scouting department to formulate several sets of coping strategies, including Gasol serving as a fake starter, leading the bench more, and mainly playing pick-and-rolls, making more use of the Thunder's infinity. Continuously switch defenses.

There are mainly two directions, either Tian Ji races horses with the strong to beat the weak and bully Thunder with poor substitutes, or maintain absolute patience in pursuit of success rate, try not to give Thunder a chance to counterattack quickly, and drag Thunder into more positional battles to make up for the disadvantages of speed and physical fitness .

If Curry and Diaw can achieve unexpected results, it will be easy to win the game, otherwise it will be more difficult.

The Thunder also has an X factor, which is the stability of Westbrook's performance. After internal discussions, the Lakers decided not to spend a lot of effort to completely lock Westbrook. Even if you collapse, you will admit defeat.

No way, the tragedy of the Spurs double-teaming Westbrook is vivid in my mind. Whether it is Perkins who made 6 of 4 shots in a single quarter or Ibaka who made 11 of 11 shots in the game, they are reminding the Lakers not to double-team Westbrook, and That would easily induce Westbrook to get hotheaded.

But the game has not yet started, whether there is a significant difference in strength between the two teams, everything is a simulation prediction, and there will be a big difference from the actual game.

After training at noon, Su Yang was interviewed by ESPN reporter Lindsay on the sidelines, talking about the previous debate with Tom Ward.

Lindsay asked: "Do you ever regret saying, 'You guys need me so much' in front of a national broadcast?"

"That sentence is a bit hurtful, but I don't regret it. It's just a small thing, and it's over." Su Yang said with a smile, "Just like Tom Ward has ridiculed me many times, it's also a small thing. I don't care what he says anymore."

Lindsay asked again how to target Durant, Su Yang smiled and said that there is no way to target, but the Lakers have Curry, which is also an absolute strength.

About 5 minutes later, the interview was about to end, and relevant content soon appeared on ESPN's official Twitter.

After being reminded by ESPN, the fans recalled Su Yang's super trash talk at the beginning, and all kinds of jokes flew into the air.

While the fans were discussing, the Eastern Conference Finals matchup was also released. The Celtics' old Big Three fought against the Heat's new Big Three.

In a blink of an eye, at 27:[-] p.m. on the [-]th, the first game of the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Thunder started at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

TNT broadcast the game live, and Barkley, Kenny Smith, and O'Neal personally commented on the scene, and CCTV5 also participated.

Big stars such as Leonardo, Dustin Hoffman, Adam Levine, JAYZ and the Beyoncé couple attended to watch, Ali Chairman Jack Ma was also accompanied by international martial arts superstar Jeter Lee, and the two were also on the sidelines Ask Su Yang to shake hands and take a group photo.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, the Thunder won the opening jump ball. Facing the active contraction Kobe at the top of the arc, Westbrook did not hesitate to find Sefoloza as a pick-and-roll, and then took advantage of Kobe and Curry to exchange positions, and assisted Sef with the ball. Rosa made a good throw in the paint.

The Lakers were easy to attack, and the Thunder stuck to the paint. Relying on their physical talent, they gave priority to double-teaming Kobe, and then rotated to cover Curry.

Curry chose to pass the ball inside, but as soon as Gasol got the ball, the Thunder shrank and surrounded the four, forcing the ball to pass outside.

After some tossing, Artest hit the iron in the mid-range shot.

The Lakers quickly retreated to avoid a fast break, but the Thunder were not in a hurry. Westbrook slowly dribbled the ball to the left wing. Facing Kobe who was in a defensive posture, he didn't think much at all. He asked Sefoloza to play a pick-and-roll again. To match Curry.

Kobe and Curry continued to switch positions, and Westbrook had the choice to pass the ball to Sefolosha, who dismantled the outer bullet, and then hit a three-pointer.

Turning to the Lakers to attack, seeing Leding continue to stick to the paint, Kobe broke through to attract double-teams and then passed to Curry.

It's a pity that Curry rushed to shoot a three-pointer and hit the iron.

Ibaka grabbed the rebound, Durant took the ball for a fast break, and the front right wing faced the slow Artest, but he didn't grab the rhythm normally, but went straight to Sefoloza like Westbrook Going away from the position, obviously looking for an opportunity to face Curry head-on.

Artest and Curry exchanged positions according to the pre-match arrangement, but in such a short time, Durant directly attacked.

Curry was hard to stop, and raised his hand impatiently to try to cut the ball in a hurry, but Durant raised his hand to shoot at the same time.

The referee's whistle blew immediately, and the basketball hit the basket and bounced into the net. The two points were valid and Durant was given an additional penalty.

Facing the very likely 8-0 start, Barkley said: "Su Yang is very smart. He already knew that Curry's single defense would suffer in the playoffs, so he consciously protected Curry in the second round against the Clippers. Curry, but it also made the Thunder realize that Curry's defensive shortcomings can be a starting point to tear the Lakers' defense apart, and they are trying to do things that the Clippers have never done."

O'Neal laughed and said, "Then you mean that because Su Yang is too smart, he caused a big trouble for the Lakers?"

Kenny laughed and said, "But Su Yang said in an interview before that Curry is the absolute strength of the Lakers..."

　Thanks to 'Blue Water Flower' for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)