Pick Westbrook

Chapter 410 Only Li Lai Can Do It

Chapter 410 Only Li Lai Can Do It

Richard Jefferson lobs the ball to Durant, who finally catches it.

Beverly has been interfering with Durant's receiving the ball, and even used his own original defensive skills, placing both hands on Durant's waist to feel the direction of the opponent's force and make a judgment.

Durant couldn't help but smile, he threw the ball with his back and turned to a frontal attack, and immediately took a frontal shot after a sharp change in front of his body.

Beverley lost his center of gravity during the defense and slid directly off the court.

Swish!

There was a crisp sound from the Nets, and Durant raised his shooting hand high and stared at Beverly.

The camera lens on the sidelines captured this shot very quickly.

"Coach, Beverly can't guard Durant." Du Feng reminded anxiously.

Beverly's defense is good, and he is extremely desperate, but Durant's physical talent is extremely exaggerated. Except for his template McGrady who is slightly better than Durant in talent, the league is rarely able to crush Durant in talent. Rand player.

In terms of smooth shooting, Durant is even better than McGrady.

Therefore, in addition to his defensive strength and mad dog attributes, the short Beverly is really difficult for him to defend Durant alone.

"But I never thought about letting Beverly defend Durant alone." Li said.

Du Feng frowned and said, "Then why is the coach making such arrangements at this time?"

Li Lai continued: "Consume Durant."

"Although it is difficult for Beverly to defend Durant, his defense consumes a lot of offensive players, and his psychological impact is not small."

"It's just that Durant is a player whose mentality is more likely to collapse, so Beverly will definitely be able to complete the tasks I assigned him."

Stevens on the side raised his head in surprise, and looked at Li Lai with an unbelievable expression on his face, as if to say, Coach, do you even know these things?

Li Lai understood the emotion on Stevens' face, and said, "Durant, even though he likes to drink bath water, he is actually a poor, inferior and cute guy with ill-fated fate."

After half a quarter of the game, Durant made 7 of 4 shots under Beverly's defense and played an extremely efficient offensive efficiency.

At this time, Li Lai suddenly made a substitution adjustment, taking down Beverly who was the second offender, taking Paul and taking Jordan Jr. at the same time.

Paul + JR Smith + Vince Carter + Diaw + Jordan, this is the key lineup for the Pelicans to reach the Western Conference Finals last season.

In this lineup, Paul dominates, Dior opens up the space, and Jordan's high pick-and-roll power is infinite. Coupled with Vince Carter and JR Smith, two excellent three-point shooters, the Warriors are double-teamed or not. Nor is it.

boom!

After the substitution, Jordan and Paul immediately cooperated, and the city of lobs came.

Then Vince Carter made an empty cut to the basket, Paul led the ball, and made another empty pick.

The UFO is pointing to the sky with both hands, full of arrogance.

The Pelicans played a wave of 11:2 offensive highs.

Cole immediately called a timeout, replaced Durant, and took Draymond Green, Curry, and Klay Thompson one after another.

Li Lai also immediately made substitution adjustments, bringing Leonard and Jimmy Butler on.

"The battle scene has entered a white-hot stage."

"So far, the Pelicans and Warriors have alternated leads a full 11 times, with a maximum lead of five points."

"Tonight is really a very anxious game."

Barkley hadn't seen such a fierce game for a long time, and couldn't help applauding the teams on both sides.

Of course, what surprised Barkley even more was the Warriors coach Cole, who didn't behave like a rookie coach at all.

In terms of adjusting tactics and defending against the Pelicans, it is obvious that they are fully prepared to deal with it freely, otherwise it will be difficult for the Warriors to persist with the Pelicans until now.

Game four.

The Pelicans led 85:81.

Li Lai called timeout again.

The New Orleans fans on the sidelines saw their head coach for the first time in this year's playoffs, and they called timeouts so frequently.

Of course they remembered a terrible statistic given by the league. When coach Li Lai called a timeout, the team's shooting percentage in the next round would exceed 60%, and the offensive tactics were almost [-]% successful. There was also an obvious improvement on the defensive end. promote.

So most of the time, Li Lai will leave at least one timeout in the last 2 minutes of the game, and try to call timeout as little as possible in the previous time period.

"In tonight's game, the Warriors did put a lot of pressure on the Pelicans, which is why they forced Coach Li Lai to call a timeout early."

"Coach Cole is proud enough. There has never been a rookie coach who can push Coach Li Lai to this point."

After the timeout, the Pelicans changed their style of play.

Paul, Leonard and Jimmy Butler are the main attackers, and all three are targeting Curry!

Paul played singles with the ball and did not call a pick-and-roll.

All the players on the Pelicans opened up.

Dribble the ball under the crotch, accelerate suddenly, stop suddenly in the middle distance and take a step back.

Swish!

Paul made a fadeaway shot.

Paul, who made the goal, shook his shoulders at Curry. This is the opponent's favorite way to celebrate, and Paul likes to play Curry's way of celebrating.

Subsequently, the Pelicans played an off-line cross screen, Curry switched to Leonard, and it was another tragic single.

Curry was suddenly rushed into the basket by Leonard and dunked successfully.

Immediately afterwards, Jimmy Butler directly fouled Curry and went to the free throw line.

A wave of 10-0 high slots by the Pelicans directly made the Warriors' scalp numb, and Curry and Durant wanted to use offense to retaliate.

The two missed a three-pointer and made a mid-range shot, but they still failed to prevent the three strong points of the Pelicans from taking turns to play Curry in singles.

Jimmy Butler missed a mid-range shot, and the thick eyebrows grabbed an offensive rebound in Draymond Green's card, and scored with a quick second-take-off dunk.

"At the end of the game, all of the Pelicans' offenses came from mid-range or breakthroughs. In terms of scoring stability, they firmly suppressed the Warriors' three-point offense."

"At any time, the mid-range and basket shooting percentage will definitely be higher than the three-pointer."

"Even for a shooter of Curry's level, what is his three-point shooting percentage? 45%!"

"As for Chris Paul, Leonard and Jimmy Butler, the average data on mid-range field goal percentage can reach 50%! Even exceed this value."

"So, in the small ball era, in the playoffs, mid-range is still the most lethal weapon."

At the end of the game, the Pelicans narrowly beat the Warriors 110:106.

库里在今晚这场比赛三分球10投4中，拿下了26分3篮板5助攻的表现。

杜兰特21投12中，拿下了28分6篮板3助攻。

The superb performance of the two did not lead the team to win the game. Anthony Davis had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Chris Paul had 21 points and 12 assists, and 6 Pelicans scored in double figures.

In the post-match interview.

Steve Kerr was chased by countless reporters and asked about the performance of the Warriors tonight, whether they can rebound strongly and win the game in the next game.

Cole looked sad, still thinking about how to solve the problem of Curry being frequently called on the roster at critical moments.

It just so happens that there are three mid-range singles masters in the Pelicans team, and Curry is a player with relatively weak single-defense ability. This once made Cole think that the Pelicans team's lineup is completely based on the idea of ​​​​restraining the Warriors.

It's a pity that he is not a coach who is good at defense, so it will be difficult to solve this for a while.

"Hey! Didn't the team have already searched for the chief assistant coach for next season in advance? Go ask him what he thinks."

The Pelicans locker room.

Beverly stood in the middle of the crowd, stepped on a table brought from more than one place, and stood high on it like a storyteller, speaking with emotion.

"At that time, I was completely dumbfounded."

"I said that as long as Durant scored more than 20 points tonight, I would recognize him as my son, but he just called him dad."

"It turns out that he doesn't just like drinking bath water."

The teammates burst into laughter immediately.

Li Lai opened the door of the locker room just in time to see this scene, and his face was not in a good mood.

Du Feng immediately acted as a peacemaker and said: "You know, Beverly is born with such a big mouth, and he keeps swearing, so no fans like him."

"Even a lot of teams don't like us."

At this time, everyone noticed that the coach came to the locker room. Beverly quickly jumped off the table, looked at Li Lai with a proud expression, and seemed to be saying praise me.

"Tonight is a difficult victory. Regardless of the fact that the Warriors are a newly formed team, both the players and the coaching staff are full of enthusiasm, and they will definitely show a stronger performance in the next game."

"So we have to be mentally prepared in advance, and we must not slack off."

Paul repeatedly patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, coach, we know the goals we set for this season, and we also know who our opponents will be in the future. We will not slack off."

Jimmy Butler and Oden on the side echoed: "Don't worry, coach, we know where the red line is and we won't cross it."

JR Smith remembered that he went out in the playoffs last season and made the coach angry, and hurriedly stood up and promised.

"Hey coach, I will take care of my brother, he will be obedient until the series is over."

There was another burst of laughter in the locker room. Vince Carter signaled to Li Lai that he would take on the responsibility of being a veteran in the playoffs and supervise his teammates not to mess around.

Li Lai was very satisfied with the proportion of the players. After evacuating the other players, he patted Beverly on the shoulder and said.

"You defended Durant well tonight. You will continue to consume his energy in the next game. This round of the series will not end easily. If we want to win the Warriors, we must be fully prepared."

Beverly nodded firmly. He has always been grateful to Li Lai for bringing him back from the European League. He has also been wandering overseas for several years, and he is very happy to be able to return to his hometown.

Li Lai stopped suddenly when he was leaving, and said, "Hey man, I like everything you show on the court and the way you survive in the league."

"However, I hope you don't take trash talk off the court in the future. It's not a gentleman's job to mock your opponent in private."

"Only by defeating your opponent on the court can you gain the respect of the opponent."

Beverly was stunned, remembering the sarcasm he had just stood on the table, and suddenly felt ashamed of grandstanding.

He Chen Ken said: "Coach, I will not ridicule my opponents in private anymore, I will become a player that others respect, instead of gaining a sense of presence after the fact."

After the game, Cole took the initiative to make a phone call.

"Hey Coach Mike Brown, we're in big trouble right now."

Mike Brown has gone to Hawaii for vacation after the Lakers lost, and the Lakers' management has become a mess at this time.

I heard that Jenny Buss proposed at the management meeting that Buss Jr. voluntarily resigned to be responsible for this season, which was supported by nearly half of the Lakers management.

If it weren't for this farce that made Buss so angry that he was directly hospitalized, I am afraid that the top management of the Lakers would really make this decision.

Mike Brown knows that the Lakers are a mess now, and he is sure that he is neither a close friend of Buss Jr. nor a best friend of Jenny Buss, so it is difficult to stay with the Lakers.

So he wisely left this place of right and wrong: Lakers, want to fire me?I don't want to talk to you yet.

Of course, Mike Brown has the confidence to leave the Lakers directly. In addition to confirming that the Lakers will not renew his contract, he also found his next home ahead of schedule.

The Golden State Warriors played an offensive level that stunned the entire league this season, but suffered from a lack of defense, so they desperately need a coach who can build a defensive system for them.

Mike Brown entered their eyeballs.

Although it has not yet been officially signed, Warriors general manager Larry Riley has already passed the gas with Mike Brown.

Mike Brown will be signed with a coach-level contract to become the team's chief assistant to build a mature defensive system for the team.

In this way, the Golden State Warriors have two coaches, one offensive and one defensive, each performing their duties. Why should this team not rise.

"Huh? Man, I don't seem to have reported to the team yet, and the contract hasn't been signed yet."

Mike Brown was puzzled by Cole's words on the other end of the phone.

He didn't watch the second-round game, and he didn't know what kind of trouble the Warriors were in now, but if Mike Brown remembered correctly, the Warriors' opponent in the second round should undoubtedly be the Pelicans.

That team swept the Lakers' Pelicans 4-0.

"Made, that's Li Lai!"

"Laozi was beaten by him when he was in the Cavaliers, and he was still beaten by him when he ran to the Lakers."

"You are everywhere! Bastard!"

Cole heard the faint voice of Mike Brown cursing Li Lai on the other end of the phone. He was pleasantly surprised and said: "The Pelicans used the tactic of calling Curry singles on the offensive end. I am completely helpless with this tactic now. .”

"And this is still a final tactic at the end of the quarter, and the offensive efficiency is extremely amazing."

"Unless Curry, Klay Thompson, and Durant break out on the offensive end, it is absolutely impossible to keep up with the Pelicans' finishing level at this time."

"Frequent singles are also very exhausting for Curry. In fact, I have found that they are using Beverly to deliberately consume Durant's physical strength."

"In this way, both Curry and Durant's physical strength will be affected at the same time, and it will be more difficult for us to keep up with the Pelicans' offense at critical moments."

Cole used extremely concise language to explain everything that happened on the court.

Mike Brown nodded again and again. Although he is the opponent's senior, he knows that the opponent is better than himself in terms of tactical insight and field response, just through the phone call.

Cole saw it clearly.

Unlike those commentators who only know how to talk on paper, they can only see the surface when looking at the team's tactical play.

Li Lai's tactic for the Pelicans in this round of the series is to consume Curry and Durant's physical strength.

Because both of them are excellent offensive players, the proportion of shooting is very large when attacking. The most effective way to reduce the opponent's shooting efficiency and shooting percentage is to consume physical strength.

Mike Brown could guess that this was probably told to Li Lai by historical level pitcher Reggie Miller, otherwise how could the opponent see these defensive details so clearly.

In terms of defense, Mike Brown considers himself the top master in the NBA, and he has not admired many coaches in this area.

Coach Larry Brown is one, Popovich is one, Thibodeau is one, and Li Lai is the one Mike Brown admires the most.

"Transformed from an offensive coach to a defensive coach, and it took only one season to do such a good job. Only you, Li Lai, can do it on this planet."

(End of this chapter)