msmithbooks Chapter 790 Preparing for the New Season
Chapter 790 Preparing for the New Season
Chapter 790 Preparing for the New Season
After the media day, almost all NBA teams have started training camps for the new season.Of course, the Thunder is no exception. Everyone in their training camp is very active, and the training is also very serious. The atmosphere of the team is very good.
The current core structure of the team is very clear, that is, the new version of the Big Three as the core, supplemented by Adams, Robertson and other defensive champions as the carrier, the offense mainly relies on the outside line, and the defense has gates both inside and outside the line. The strength of the strong team.
For any NBA team, if you want to win the championship, you can’t stretch your hips on both offense and defense. A team with offense but no defense is like the Suns back then. The Western Conference Finals is already the ceiling; Can enter the playoffs, and even enter the second round, but the upper limit is also sealed, and no one stands up to score during desperate moments.
The lineup structure of this Thunder team is quite reasonable. The Big Three are in their prime, with a defensive center like Adams on the inside, a traditional offensive center like Kanter, and Ilyasova at the fourth position with space. Needless to say, the locker room also has Thunder veteran Collison.The team also has young players such as Robertson and Abrines. It can be said that there are three generations of old, middle and young players.
According to some experts' predictions before the season, the Thunder are in the same league as the Warriors.Their hidden dangers are the health problems of Xie Kai and Paojiao and the running-in of the Big Three. If these two can recover to their peak levels, then this team will become extremely strong.
Many NBA celebrities believe that Pickled Pepper, as a low-profile version of Durant, is very suitable to play next to Xie Kai and Westbrook.Even at his peak, Paojiao was not a good offensive player with the ball. He is strong in his shooting and defense.
In this Thunder team, if they hold the ball, there are Westbrook and Xie Kai. He is no longer needed like he was in the Pacers before. He can't play offensive tactics, and he needs to hold the ball to solve everything.He's a good secondary, not a primary.In terms of round output ability, he is not even as good as Arenas at his peak.
Westbrook is the old man of the Thunder, while Xie Kai is the league's two-time MVP with three championship rings in his hand. Pickle has not yet expanded himself enough to compete with these two for the position of team leader.Obviously, let's not say who is the boss between Westbrook and Xie Kai, he must be the third, there is no doubt.
Westbrook said in public that Xie Kai is the leader of this team, his strength is the strongest, and everyone will use him as the core.And Xie Kai also humbly stated that Westbrook is the core of this team, and he is here to help them.
Both of them were humble, so the media couldn't understand whether these two guys were being polite or really speaking from their hearts.
Of course, Westbrook doesn't really think that Xie Kai is here to grab the boss. To be the boss, most teams in the league can meet his requirements. Why come to this small place in Oklahoma City to grab food with old friends?
And Xie Kai certainly doesn't think that Westbrook wants to occupy the ball and become a dictator in order to be the boss.He knew this guy who looked like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle all too well.This guy is too competitive, and sometimes he has superiors, but he is a very sincere guy. As long as he is clear-headed, he is a super invincible musket, and he can kill whoever he sees.
There is no conflict of status between the two, and everyone has the same goal, which is to hit the championship!
Thunder coach Billy Donovan is a famous NCAA coach, and he is very satisfied with the current team's lineup.In his opinion, Xie Kai is a far better team leader than Durant.Durant is an excellent scorer, a killer, not a king who can control everything.
And Xie Kai is such a player, at least when he is healthy, he is such a player.And judging from the training situation, he felt that Xie Kai was stronger than before, which made him excited and wanted to start the new season quickly.
As a coach, holding two orange cards and one purple card in his hand, this feeling is so cool!
The Thunder's first preseason game will go to Spain in Europe, first against Real Madrid in Madrid, and then against the Barcelona men's basketball team in Barcelona.
The preseason record is not included in the regular season record, but a team with a reorganized core team like the Thunder is indeed a good opportunity to run the lineup.
The Thunder is not a complete reorganization of the team, at least Westbrook and his team that played in the Western Conference Finals last season are still there, so there is no need to run in.What needs to be adjusted are some new players such as Xie Kai and Paojiao.
Going to Spain to play the preseason game made Xie Kai go to Spain for the first time in his life.His previous impressions of this country were only bullfighting and Barcelona Real Madrid, but he didn't expect that his opponent would be Barcelona Real Madrid, but it was a basketball team instead of a football team.
On October 10, the Thunder played away against Real Madrid in their first preseason game.
The level of basketball in Europe is very high, and the integrity is very strong. The NBA is strong in individual ability. It really depends on the richness of skills and tactics, teamwork and coordination. Even the NCAA is better than many NBA teams.
Of course, sometimes superstars can really solve everything. After all, there are only 5 people in basketball, while there are 11 in football.
In the game on the 4th, the scores of the two sides were very high. In the end, the Thunder lost to their opponents and missed their preseason debut.
None of the Big Three played more than 20 minutes, and the Thunder played as many as 13 players in this game.
The outcome of the preseason is not important, everyone is running in to adapt to the intensity of the game.
In the game on the 6th, the Thunder team won against Barcelona, which brought the trip to Spain to an end.
Xie Kai feels that everyone's running-in is constantly improving, and the cooperation is also getting better.The atmosphere of the current Thunder team is very good. Everyone performs their duties. They are very selfless on the court, not eager for quick success, and are always looking for chemical reactions.
The Thunder team really has no thorns. Most of the players here are introverted. Adams looks like Aquaman, but he is actually a gentle boy.
After two preseason games in Spain, the Thunder returned to the United States to prepare for the rest of the preseason.
On October 10, the Thunder ended their last preseason game and ended all preseason games with a record of 19 wins and 3 losses.
After the preseason, NBA teams have begun to prepare for the opening game of the new season.
Xie Kai is training in Oklahoma City to prepare for the new season.He lives in a newly bought villa with his wife Zhou Jing.
Xie Kai's villa is huge, and there are dozens of rooms alone. With so many rooms, Zhou Jing would be exhausted to clean them all by herself.
Xie Kai hired a nanny, a Filipino maid, and a housekeeper (female) to manage his own home.
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the state of Oklahoma, located in the south-central United States.Although it belongs to the Western Conference, the location of this city is actually more towards the east. However, the western United States is sparsely populated. If it is really divided by location, then there are too many teams in the east.
In the United States as a whole, Oklahoma City is not a big city.It's not the East Coast, it's not the West Coast, and it's not comparable to Miami on the South Coast.The predecessor of the Thunder was the Sonics. At that time, the city where the team was located was Seattle, which was much more prosperous than Oklahoma City.
(End of this chapter)