start with scouting

Chapter 475

Thomas Jr. is able to gain a foothold in the NBA with a height of 175. In addition to the muscular arms and thighs, another important reason is the muscular buttocks, which gives him excellent core strength, super explosive breakthroughs, and strong confrontational stability.

If the hip muscle is strained, then Thomas Jr. will be useless for most of it. With his shooting and organization alone, he will not be able to compete in such a high-intensity confrontation game.

Su Yang kept Tom's words in mind, flew back to Saskatchewan to rest for the night, asked about the examination results the next day, and was informed that the strain was confirmed.

Thomas Jr. took the initiative to make a phone call immediately: "Coach, I am only slightly strained and can continue to lead the team."

"Take a good rest. Our goal is the championship. We need you to be in full swing to blow up the Spurs' back line..." Su Yang spoke confidently, but he didn't know what to do. He just wanted to stop Thomas from thinking too much. Thunder this pass.

Thomas Jr. hung up the phone immediately, and his agent called again, asking if the injury would affect the offseason renewal.

Su Yang said bluntly: "The things that have been promised will not change. This is one of the reasons why I let Thomas rest. It is out of humanitarian and commercial planning. I don't want him to lose his explosive power because of injuries. I am not Danny. Angie..."

The agent thanked him again and again, and offered to change the form of the contract if 4 million in 2500 years would affect the king's off-season recruitment plan. Anyway, it was just a verbal promise before, so that Su Yang would not be under pressure. The entire Thomas team was very grateful.

Su Yang didn't comment, guessing that Thomas Jr.'s agent probably made some inquiries and found that the free market lacked good opportunities.

After all, in the 14-year free market, there are quite a lot of point guard players, including Sean Livingston who performed well in the Nets, Suns point guard Bledsoe who is rising strongly, and Clippers substitute Darren Collison who is very efficient. , Thomas Jr.'s competitiveness is really average.

The main data of Thomas Jr. is excellent, but the premise is to build an offensive and defensive system around it, and few teams are willing to try.

It is also the mentally disabled rebounding of the Suns in the previous life, which first gave Thomas Jr. 4 years of 2700 million US dollars, and then renewed Bledsoe's contract with a maximum salary of 4 years. As a result, the three main point guards of the Suns had to choose to put Jr. in the middle of the season. Thomas and Dragic sent away.

Hang up the phone, and then announce the news of Thomas Jr.'s truce in the team.Cousins ​​and others expressed their blessings and encouragement one after another, and told Su Yang not to worry. It was so difficult to beat the Thunder in the regular season before, and the playoffs were still back and forth. It was just a little bit more hard work.

During the team's discussion, the NBA officially announced that Antetokounmpo defeated Michael Carter Williams and won the Rookie of the Year award.

Congratulations from everyone. I have already received internal news that Antetokounmpo will win the award. However, due to the Sterling racial discrimination incident, various award plans have been chaotic. The league first awarded Durant the MVP, and then awarded the best rookie and other awards.

Su Yang turned to the training base and found Brother Antetokounmpo who was actively training: "Giannis, you have to be prepared to lead the organization of the second team, and you can't lose defense. The playing time may reach 45+ minutes. In short, your task It will be heavier…”

Antetokounmpo nodded excitedly: "Coach, I'm ready! I want to surpass Kevin Durant, with both offense and defense..."

Su Yangxin said that it is completely useless to attack Durant, but he still said: "Come on, I believe you can achieve your goal."

Snyder and other assistant coaches rushed to the base one after another to discuss how to adjust the rotation, and finally decided to share the time vacated by Thomas Jr.'s absence. Both Cousins ​​and Vazquez played a few more minutes to help Antetokounmpo share the substitute stage. organizational pressure.

The news of Thomas Jr.'s injury and absence soon appeared on WOJ's breaking news Twitter. Su Yang was very angry after seeing it, but the unspoken rules in the NBA circle are like this. Unless it is extremely confidential, it is easy to leak the news. Players, coaches, team doctors, and trainers all It may be the target of the message, it may be intentional, or it may be unintentional. It is very troublesome to check, and general information is not necessary.

All kinds of downfalls ensue.

Fans and the media know that Thomas Jr. is an important reason why the Kings can score efficiently on the bench. In the previous five games, except for the first game, the other four games were inseparable from the Thunder, thanks to Thomas Jr.'s outstanding performance as a substitute.

The well-known commentator Jaylen Rose tweeted: "Unfortunately, the king's door to the Western Conference Finals was locked by injuries, but they are still good enough to reach the Western Conference Semifinals from the bottom two in the Western Conference. Very rare."

Bill Simmons and others also tweeted that they were pessimistic about the prospects of the Kings' promotion, and praised the Kings for not needing further self-proof. They believed that Millsap and Gay performed very well, and that they could have good results in the offseason whether they jumped out of their contracts or implemented their options. .

When Su Yang saw the news, he took a screenshot of his mobile phone and told the generals of the king: "Instead of criticism and ridicule, we should also be wary of praise. Don't believe that any king player is good enough. There is no need to continue to prove such nonsense. It will weaken our fighting spirit." !"

Millsap and Gay took the lead in expressing that they will definitely go all out and will not accept that they can lose just because Thomas Jr. is injured.

Cousins ​​and others agreed, and the Kings' ideological work and rotation arrangements were settled, and they rushed into temporary tactical training.

NO.15 of the second day, the Kings played against the Thunder at home.

It was about advancing to the Western Conference Finals. Saskatchewan Mayor Kevin Johnson was present to watch the game. The well-known rapper Rick Ross sat in the VIP seat with a huge gold chain. He claimed to be a loyal fan of the Kings. He has been a fan of the Kings since the era of Mike Bibby. to appreciate.

Su Yang knew Rick Ross because that guy had collaborated with the South Expedition North War group on a super ugly song.

Rick Ross was shown on the central big screen, and the audience cheered wildly. Su Yang almost shook his head on the spot.

Saskatchewan fans have never seen a big star. As a Los Angeles fan, Drake will not scream and cheer when he comes to watch the game.

It is necessary to enhance the King's influence through new media, break through geographical restrictions, and attract more stars to become King's fans.

In the ESPN commentary booth, Mike Brin said: "This time G6 is the game with the highest ratings in the semi-finals. According to the news that the director told me just now, there are currently more than 800 million users watching this game, and the live broadcast viewers are counted separately."

Jeff Van Gundy chuckled: "This game is very critical for the Thunder. They have not yet proved that they can succeed without Su Yang."

The game started in a blink of an eye, and the two teams started to enter the field.

Thunder, Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins.

Kings, Vazquez, Thornton, Antetokounmpo, Millsap, Cousins.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, the Thunder won the jump ball.

Westbrook dribbled the ball to the right wing, passed it to Ibaka who was raised to the top of the arc, and then used Perkins' right elbow to cover and rushed to the basket.

Ibaka catches the ball and turns to the left, then passes to Sefoloza at 45 degrees, then turns to the right, and walks quickly to the right wing, forming a double screen with Perkins, who had previously stopped at the right elbow, and Duran Take the opportunity to go straight to the top of the arc from the bottom corner on the right.

A typical shift of strength and weakness, the Thunder, like the Heat, have not changed after a good year. After all, Durant and LeBron are too strong.

But the efficiency is really low.

Durant had only 10 seconds left to catch the ball, and it took another 1 second to call for a screen, followed by a breakthrough on the right, facing Cousins ​​who was up the grab.

Seeing that a one-on-one duel was about to take place, the referee suddenly blew his whistle and punished Antetokounmpo for pulling Perkins, and got a technical foul, and Perkins got an offensive foul for pushing Antetokounmpo, and needed the Thunder to send someone to execute the technical foul. Foul free throw, but the ball is transferred to the king.

The audience looked confused, and Su Yang curled his lips slightly, thinking that this was setting the tone for the game to control the field, which is difficult.

Durant then stood on the free throw line and hit a technical free throw against the boos of the audience. The King turned to the backcourt to launch an attack.

The horn formation started, Millsap held the ball high in the right elbow area for observation, and Antetokounmpo ran to the left waist at the same time, and together with Cousins, they jointly set up the wall as a screen.Thornton took the opportunity to get rid of Sefolosha, cut into the paint, and went straight to the bottom corner on the right.

A typical echelon screen run creates an open catch and shot opportunity, but Perkins delays first, and Sefolosha chases after him.

The expected right bottom corner vacancy did not appear, Antetokounmpo immediately retreated to the left 45-degree three-point line, raised his hand to receive the pass from Millsap, and then lobbed the left waist.Cousins ​​put his back against Perkins to catch the ball, sat down smoothly, turned around and sank to the bottom to attack the basket.

The speed was very fast, and Perkins failed to react in time, but Ibaka on the right elbow and Sefolosha in the right corner made up defense.

But Cousins ​​headed to the right wing, and Vazquez caught the ball and made a steady three-pointer, completely ignoring Westbrook's stride and lunge.

bass!The three-pointer went into the net.

"Westbrook's habit of shrinking in advance to grab the board and push the fast break makes people love and hate..." Su Yang felt emotional, knowing that if Westbrook hadn't missed someone just now, the King would not be able to hit a three-pointer so easily. It is not good to play to the end of the game, it all depends on Westbrook.

(End of this chapter)