Almighty Coach

The conversation between Dai Li and Gray was over.

Dai Li felt that since Gray knew where his shortcomings were, there was no need to intervene too much. Players who can play in the NBA are not fools, and they should know how to divert their shortcomings.

For Gray, this foul problem is like a threshold, like the so-called rookie wall in the NBA. As long as he can successfully cross this threshold, it will be like a carp jumping over the dragon's gate and entering the sea.

As for whether he can successfully cross this threshold in the end, it depends on Gray's own understanding.

There is a saying that with great ability comes great responsibility, and there is also a special phenomenon in the NBA, that is, the better the body, the easier it is to foul. If you look at the NBA's average fouls per game list in order, the top ten are definitely some guys with explosive physical talents. Those players who can't run fast or jump high are less likely to foul.

This is just like Li Dai's analysis, this group of demonic muscular people can run and jump, and when defending, they always feel that they can defeat the enemy with one blow. Originally, only a little interference was needed to make the opponent's offense hit a wall. They had to completely prevent the opponent to death, so there would always be relatively large defensive actions, and the number of fouls would increase as a result.

Although Gray has played in the NBA for several seasons, due to injuries, he has only played more than a hundred games. He can only be regarded as a high-end rookie, and it is impossible to get a "star whistle" from the referee. , Many times for ambiguous fouls, or those that can be blown or not, the referee will not give him face, and directly call him a foul. If one day Gray becomes an All-Star, the referee will be more relaxed when calling fouls.

In fact, the problem of fouls is a must for every insider. Looking at the outstanding insiders in the league, whether they are active or retired, it would be embarrassing if they didn’t have the experience of leaving the game with six fouls every season. Said he was an insider.

...

In the next game, the Clippers came to Oracle Stadium in Oakland to challenge the defending champion Warriors.

The Warriors are currently the strongest team in the league, and they belong to the Pacific Division with the Clippers.

According to the NBA's schedule rules, teams in the same division play four games a season. Under this competition system, once a particularly strong team appears in one's own division, it is not good news for the other four teams in this division.

For example, in the Pacific Division, the Warriors are super strong. The other four teams, the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Suns, are not the Warriors' opponents. As long as the Warriors play hard and don't let the water go, the other four teams will definitely win four games. failure. At the end of the season, when the record is calculated, it is no wonder that they lost a few more games than other teams. In the fiercely competitive West, a difference of 0.5 games will cause a difference of two or three places. If you lose one or two more games, it will directly affect whether you can enter the playoffs.

Oracle Stadium, the game has not yet started, on the sidelines of the bench, Warriors coach Nicholas pouted, looking at Calabi who is warming up on the court.

"Carabi has rejuvenated for a second time. It's really a big deal for the Clippers! If we have this kind of player, this year's championship will be more stable." Nicholas said to himself.

This season, Calabi suddenly returned to his youthful state, which also made him the favorite player of many teams, including the league's No. 1 Warriors. Calabi has height, bounces and moves. His ability to block shots is enough to guard the team's penalty area on defense. On offense, he has the ability to shoot and even shoot three-pointers. This is very suitable for the Warriors' style of play.

The only shortcoming of Calabi is that he is too thin, but this is not a problem for the Warriors. The most popular small ball style of play in the NBA today is brought up by the Warriors. In the Warriors' tactical system, traditional positional warfare There are not many opportunities, and the traditional big men with meat shields are not as easy to use as space-type insiders.

Nicholas couldn't help but glanced at his backup center. Although that guy is also a player with a lot of physical fitness and is also very energetic in playing, his brain seems to be a little out of order. He is like a ticking time bomb on the court. will stab himself.

While thinking about it, Nicholas looked at Dai Li on the visiting team's bench with some jealousy. He thought of Li Dai's previous experience. When Li Dai was the head coach of the US team, he helped many very old athletes find their second spring.

"It's nice to be young!" Nicholas sighed softly. He didn't know whether he was talking about those athletes who had returned to their peak form, or Dai Li's youth.

...

In the game between the Clippers and the Warriors, the two sides played back and forth in the first two quarters. However, in the third quarter, the Warriors seemed to suddenly feel the touch. In the blink of an eye, they played a wave of 28 to 8, and the Warriors widened the score To 23 points.

The Warriors played their own characteristics, and the third quarter was a wave. This is also the traditional way for the Warriors to win. In the first quarter, let the starters warm up, in the second quarter, let the substitutes warm up. . Statistically speaking, the Warriors were +130 in the third quarter. Today, this method is also used against the Clippers.

There are so many excellent basketball coaches in the league who can't crack the Warriors' tactical system, and Li Dai, a half-baked basketball coach, can't do anything about it. Faced with this situation, the only thing Dai Li could do was to use the sign box to see if God could help him.

"Draw the lottery!" Dai Li looked at the result of the lottery with some depression. If the lottery was the upper lottery, the game could be reversed. Now it's just a lottery, which is useless at all.

Li Dai didn't even bother to look at the result of the lottery. He thought about it, and since he couldn't win, he decided to throw the ball and admit defeat. There are 82 games in a season, and it doesn't matter if you lose one game. Besides, the opponent is a powerful warrior, and it is not shameful to lose to the warrior.

"Let's change players!" Dai Li pointed to the "water dispenser administrators" who couldn't usually play, and the players who couldn't make it to the rotation at all suddenly looked happy. They had a lot of trouble. Time can come into play.

"Coach, I want to play a little longer." A voice suddenly sounded, and Dai Li turned his head to look, and it was Gray who spoke.

"Gray actually asked to play. Did the conversation last time have an effect? ​​His foul control today is not bad, no, this is also related to the opponent being the Warriors. Warriors players mainly rely on shooting to score, not too much hit the basket." Dai Li nodded, agreed with Gray's request, and at the same time ordered: "If Gray wants the ball, give it to him."

...

After a dead ball, the Clippers replaced the "water cooler administrator".

"They gave up!" Nicholas showed a smug smile on his face. He felt that the game was under his control. Then he turned his head and signaled the substitute players to warm up.

The Warriors also replaced the entire bench for the next dead ball. The main players and several major rotation players sat on the bench with a smile on their faces. They clocked out after three quarters.

...

There is still more than one quarter in the game.

Gray ran to the low post to ask for the ball, and then relied on his proficient low-post offensive skills to drive the ball to the basket.

For this very traditional low-post offense, the Warriors' defender seemed a little stunned, or a little uncomfortable, he didn't know how to defend.

American basketball culture pays less and less attention to low-post offense. There are fewer and fewer big men in the league who are good at low-post offense. There are only a handful of top-level big men in physical fitness. They are treasures in any team. The Warriors These non-rotation players usually don't have access to this kind of talent, so they don't know how to deal with this traditional low-post offense.

What's more, Gray is not the kind of slow-moving traditional center. His flexibility is outstanding. Innately at an advantage when attacking one-on-one.

In several consecutive attacks, Gray scored the ball. Although the score was not pulled in, Gray felt like a fish in water.

He likes the feeling of asking for the ball in the low post and then playing one-on-one. Every time he scores a ball, Gray can gain a sense of accomplishment.

The Warriors really can't guard Gray, and they don't bother to guard Gray. After all, the Warriors' offense relies heavily on three-pointers, and with a lead of more than 20 points, they have plenty of opportunities to squander.

At the end of the third quarter, the game came to the fourth quarter. The Clippers had just brought the score advantage to within 20 points. The Warriors made two consecutive three-pointers and once again widened the gap.

The players on both sides are the players at the end of the bench. In comparison, the Warriors have a stronger bench. After all, the Warriors are a championship team, and it is easy to recruit stronger combat power. Some players want to hug thigh.

Moreover, the Warriors are indeed superior in terms of tactics. The experience of several championship trophies has made the Warriors' tactical system more mature. As for the Clippers, Dai Li acted like a hands-off shopkeeper, insisting on the "star ball" strategy, without any tactics at all.

When the game entered the last five minutes, the Warriors still maintained a 20-point lead, and there was basically no suspense about the result of this game.

However, on the Warriors' bench, Coach Nicholas was not happy at all.

"Gray has already scored 28 points and 17 rebounds." Nicholas looked at the latest statistics. He felt that if he continued to play, Gray could get a large double-double of 30+20.

More importantly, Nicholas could feel that Gray was gradually gaining confidence. Looking at Gray running on the field, Nicholas seemed to see that a future super center was about to be born.

Nicholas couldn't help but think of Gray's scout report when he participated in the draft. Everyone believed that he would be the strongest center in NBA history, an existence beyond the four major centers.

"Super center!" The fear in Nicholas' eyes flashed.

He was also an NBA player, and he has personally experienced the era of the four major centers. He knows the horror of the four major centers best. Even now, in retrospect, he still has a feeling of chills on his back.

Today, the era of super centers has long passed. There has not been a super center in the NBA for a long time. When the "small ball system" was born, there were no super centers in the league, so Nicholas didn't know the Warriors' "Five Deaths" Whether it can deal with a super center, but it is an indisputable fact that the "five small" lineup lacks height. Whenever the Warriors encounter a big man with both speed and height, they will always be asked by the opponent.

The Gray in front of him is obviously the kind of big man who has both speed and height, but also has excellent strength and excellent offensive skills. Facing such an opponent, the only thing Nicholas could think of was double-teaming.

The game has entered the last two minutes, the Clippers approached the score within 20 points, and Gray also successfully scored a large double-double of 30+20.

However, this has not affected the result of the game, and the Warriors can celebrate the victory in advance.

But Nicholas didn't feel the joy of victory at all.

"We won a game, but the opponent has a super center. No matter what, we are at a loss!" Nicholas thought maliciously.