start with scouting

Chapter 461

At eight o'clock in the evening on NO.15, the game between the Kings and the Timberwolves was held at the Target Center in Minnesota City, and the seats were full.

The fans are full of expectations and want to see the fierce duel between Cousins ​​and Love, after all, the All-Star starting battle.

But Timberwolves coach Adelman insisted on the previous position arrangement, with Love as the starting power forward and Pekovic as the starting center. As a result, Love could not directly match Cousins, and many fans cheered on the spot. Sorry.

When Su Yang saw the Timberwolves' starting lineup, he didn't make any special adjustments. He continued to let Cousins ​​play the center forward to stretch the space.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, the game started.

The two teams tacitly reduced the defensive intensity. The Timberwolves were unwilling and unable to defend. The main defensive habits were relatively poor and there was a lack of strong defenders. The Kings did not want to waste energy. There were still five away games to play. victory.

In the first round of the opening, Love seemed to have long eyes in the back of his head, and scored with his back to the basket. Then he made a long pass and assisted Brewer to catch the ball and score a layup. Playing to attract double-teams, assisting Guy to score in an air cut, attacking and stealing the basket, pretending to pass to Thomas Jr., but actually turning around and sinking to the bottom line, facing Pekovic to make up anti-riot dunks, performing in turn.

After the first quarter, the Kings led by 1 point.

O'Neal tweeted, mocking Cousins ​​and Love as centers/power forwards, who actually floated on the outside and played together. They are not qualified to be called centers and power forwards at all.

However, the statistics of Cousins ​​and Love are very good.

Some fans reposted and agreed with O'Neal, saying that the NBA is coming to an end, low-confrontation play is boring, and the 90s is good.

The players and the head coach of the two teams didn't know about it, and they still played according to the rhythm of the bombardment. The king mainly played Cousins, and the Timberwolves were in full bloom. The only surprise was that Kevin Martin made several fouls, and the referee ignored them. head no more.

In the end, the Kings defeated the Timberwolves 116-105 and won a seven-game winning streak. Cousins ​​scored 33 points and 11 rebounds.

Love scored 37 points and 11 rebounds, including 6 of 4 three-pointers, and his offensive and defensive efficiency on the court was far lower than that of Cousins.

In the post-match press conference, when talking about the Love-Cousins ​​dispute, Su Yang replied: "Love certainly deserves to be an All-Star starter. He averaged nearly 26 points and 12 rebounds per game, but Cousins ​​can definitely do it too. We let The fans and time will make the decision."

After all, but Su Yang knows that when the votes of Chinese fans are not counted, the probability of Love defeating Cousins ​​as the starter is very high. It has little to do with the data and record. The local white star, when Stern appointed the injured Yao Ming to participate in the All-Stars, it was not to pull any conspiracy theories, it was a bonus after the strength was in place, even if the record was poor, it didn't matter.

Su Yang's goal is to send Cousins ​​to the Western Conference as a substitute for the All-Stars, and he must create momentum. Although the All-Stars' substitutes are voted by the coaches of each team, it can also make those coaches think more about Cousins.Of course, Cousins ​​beat other teams more violently.

The whole team flew to Indiana overnight to challenge the Pacers back-to-back. They were exhausted in four quarters and lost by five points.

Cousins ​​had 31 points and 13 rebounds in the game, mainly because Gay and Thomas did not have an absolute advantage as substitutes. Veteran Scola made 6 of 4 shots and CJ Watson also broke out in 6 of 5 shots. Thomas Jr.'s defensive deviation.

The Kings had no time to be sad, and boarded the flight to Memphis overnight, and Cousins ​​crazily complained about the rubbish schedule.

Thomas Jr. and others have echoed the complaints: before, there were two home games in six days, and now six away games in nine days.

Su Yang heard the complaints, and sincerely announced on the spot that he would not practice for a day and take a day off, but the king fell into silence.

After waking up at noon, Cousins ​​ran to Su Yang's room to apologize: "Coach, I'm sorry, I caused the morale of the team to drop."

"Don't think too much, it's normal to feel tired, and it's normal to rest too. I said earlier that I'm not Pat Riley..." Su Yang patted Cousins ​​on the shoulder to comfort Cousins, and went to find Brother Antetokounmpo to play PS games. Said that he sold his PS3 in order to save money.

Su Yang immediately ordered a PS4, took Brother Antetokounmpo to play "Shenhai 3" together, and then gave it to Brother Antetokounmpo as a gift.

Thinking about it, Antetokounmpo shook his head again and again: "Coach, I'm worried that the game will affect the daily training, so I don't want it..."

"Okay!" Su Yang didn't force it, and handed over the PS4 to the hotel staff, asking to save it for playing next time.

With a day off, the Kings challenged the Grizzlies.

In the new season, the head coach of the Grizzlies changed from Hollins to Joerger. At the beginning of the game, they were ready to speed up, but the main lineup of the black and white bears has not changed. Re-focus on slow-paced positional warfare.

But the upper limit of slow-paced positional warfare can be seen with the naked eye, and Randolph's state has declined significantly, so there is really nothing to look forward to.

The Grizzlies' small ball market can't afford the luxury tax, and it's hard to attract big-name players. They don't have a great man like Su Yang, so they can only endure bitterly. They play in the playoffs every year and sell tickets, hoping that one day they will be able to catch them. As for I dare not think too much about winning the championship.

The game started at [-]:[-], and it was difficult for the Kings to get up. Point efficiency, encountering encirclement is a headache.

During the slow-paced hand-to-hand combat, the game lasted 5.3 seconds. The King defended the Grizzlies attack, grabbed a rebound and requested a timeout.

Su Yang arranged an STS screen as the main tactic: "We focus on using Thomas' thick body and Giannis' lobs. The two of you first do back screens at the free throw line. One goes to the basket and the other goes to the bottom corner. It depends on the situation. Cousins ​​at the waist is singled out, if he makes a mistake, or if he hits the iron and doesn't get a rebound, he must foul in time, then we still have a chance to tie!"

The Kings will return to the court with strategy, Millsap serves outside the boundary, Cousins ​​stands on the right wing, Thomas Jr. stands at the basket, Antetokounmpo stands at the free throw line, Gay stands on the left wing looking for a single-handed opportunity, and the Grizzlies Over there, man-to-man defensive positioning.

The referee blew the whistle to time the ball, and Antetokounmpo immediately rushed to the basket with the back cover raised by Thomas Jr., causing the Grizzlies Conley and Prince to switch defenses in a hurry.Thomas Jr. took the opportunity to run to the right, and with the help of Cousins' lateral cover, quickly moved to the 45-degree three-point line on the right, while Randolph, who was standing on the sideline of the Grizzlies, and Xiaojia, who was responsible for defending Cousins, delay together.

Seeing this, Thomas quickly ran to the right corner, attracting Gasol's defense, and Millsap took the opportunity to pass the ball into the field.

Cousins ​​took the ball on the right side, facing Gasol Jr. who hurried back to the defense, and Prince who was trying to make up the defense, he raised his hand and threw the ball empty.

Antetokounmpo jumped up simultaneously, caught the ball with both hands, and scored a dunk dunk vigorously, helping the Kings overtake the Grizzlies 92 to 91.

With 3.4 seconds left in the clock, the Grizzlies did not pause and rushed to the backcourt to kick off the ball. Thomas Jr. steals Conley and finally wins.

In the whole game, Cousins ​​scored 30 points and 17 rebounds. Fly in the ointment and suffered 5 fouls, but it still caused heated discussions.

No way, 30+10 in many games, and a few more 25+10 in three quarters. Cousins' dominance at the center position has gradually been discovered and recognized by the fans. There will be no negative news in the new season except for the one that provoked the Heat. The ratings have also improved.

In an interview after the game, Su Yang said bluntly: "Whether he is selected or not, Cousins ​​is already an All-Star. This is a fact."

The Kings team flew to Oklahoma City, took a day off, and challenged the Thunder that Westbrook missed due to injury. Su Yang decisively arranged for Thomas Jr. to be the starting point guard, inducing Reggie who wanted to sign a big contract in the offseason to shoot more shots. Go it alone.

At the start of the game, it may be that he consciously hit Thomas Jr., and Reggie made consecutive strong bursts and emergency stop jumpers, and the result was 5 of 1.

The Kings took the opportunity to take the lead, but Durant was so terrifying, and Antetokounmpo scored 5 points in 5 of 13. The key Durant only had 2 free throws, 2 assists and 2 steals, 0 turnovers and 0 Foul, absolute MVP.

The Kings led by 2 points and entered the second quarter. Who would have thought that Reggie gave it another shot, and was 5 of 1, which made it difficult for Durant. Unfortunately, Sefoloza and Ibaka stood up and forced Support the Thunder situation.At halftime, the Kings led by only 9 points.

After returning from the halftime break, Reggie remained true to his original intention and insisted on fighting for a big contract. He finally made 5 of 2 shots, plus free throws, and scored 9 points in a single quarter, but Durant was completely out of form. Those 9 points were nothing With the eggs in hand, the king's lead became 19 points, and the situation was crushed.

In the fourth quarter, the Thunder went all out. Durant fought continuously without rest, but he was unable to stop the Kings' bench lineup led by Gay and Thomas Jr.The Kings finally defeated the Thunder 108 to 93. Cousins ​​scored 38 points and 14 rebounds, sparking heated discussions again.

Su Yang instructed the King's social department to seize the opportunity to attract fans, and soon saw the topic of'vote for Cousins' on Twitter and other platforms, and Cousins ​​said in an interview: "I would like to thank the coaches and teammates for trusting me , attack around me..."

Such modesty successfully increased the number of followers.

The Kings flew to New Orleans and took a day off to challenge the Pelicans.

Gay still remembers the hatred that Aminu defended him before. He made 8 of 5 three-pointers and scored 41 points to lead the team to a big victory. Cousins ​​only scored 16 points and 11 rebounds. After leading the congratulations in the locker room, he didn't mind at all.

Su Yang videotaped the celebration in the locker room, and the video was posted on the Twitter social platform. Fans praised Cousins ​​for his grandeur.

Simple celebration, the team flew to San Antonio overnight.

The last stop of the King's six-game streak, back-to-back challenges to the Spurs, who have only lost 8 games since the start of the season, is another battle of victory.

Defeating the Spurs can transform and upgrade again!

On the plane, Su Yang looked at the latest scouting report of the Spurs and suddenly thought: "The Spurs were not super strong at the beginning of the 14th season. , The finals also have substantial adjustments.

I was preconceived because I made a mistake, I didn’t look at the problem from the perspective of development and change, and the prophetic advantage limited my thinking...”

(End of this chapter)