NBA head coaches are not an easy job. According to statistics, the average time they serve on a team is only two and a half years.
There are many people who only stayed in the head coaching position for one or two seasons, and finally chose to return to assistant coaches or other jobs because they could not bear the strong pressure.
As for Tyronn Lue, he has been the head coach of the Clippers for almost three years and has won two championship trophies. It can be said that the honor is quite impressive.
But Director Lu never thinks that head coaching is a very hard job. Sometimes he even thinks it is quite simple to lead the team in games.
It doesn't seem to be much different from when he was a substitute for the Lakers. Anyway, he spent most of the time on the bench.
The players are very smart, and the coaching staff always has a very capable assistant, plus a few loyal veterans who know the business well.
At critical moments, the general manager takes action. He only needs to do a good job in managing the players' emotions and doing interpersonal communication.
From this point of view, Tyronn Lue is more like a team leader than a head coach, and he is very satisfied with his role.
He never complained and believed that as a head coach, he should get more power and give instructions to the players.
Most of the best basketball head coaches are control freaks, especially in the field of college basketball. None of the well-known coaches has a good temper.
There's nothing you can do about it. You have to take a dozen black guys who are full of hormones, have low education, and have a strong mentality of heroism to engage in intense high-confrontation sports. If you don't have the temper to suppress them, this team will People's hearts dispersed in a matter of minutes.
However, as NBA stars become more and more famous, their salaries get higher and their influence becomes stronger, the old-school bad-tempered coaches are becoming more and more unbearable in the league.
Once many head coaches have a conflict with the team's top player, whether it's due to different philosophies or personality differences, it will definitely be the head coach who leaves in the end.
After all, fans spend money to watch games in the arena. What they see is the team's superstars, not your head coach's instructions from the sidelines.
Therefore, as batch after batch of old-school coaches retire, many of the new coaches emerging in the league are nanny-type chicken soup coaches.
They are also good at tactics and training, but they are also good at management, can handle interpersonal relationships with players, and can gain support from players.
Tyronn Lue is the leader among them, and his tactical skills are really not that good, but his relationship with the players is really good.
However, this type of coach has a common and obvious flaw that is often criticized by fans and experts on the court, which is poor ability to adjust on the spot.
If a head coach makes poor on-the-spot adjustments, most people will think that the coach is not skilled in skills, not proficient in tactics, and his brain is not flexible enough and too rigid.
But in fact, the more important reason is that the coach's ability to control the players is relatively poor. You cannot fully control the players, and naturally you cannot make precise adjustments.
Therefore, at this time, most coaches can only make fine adjustments, emotionally encourage and cheer up the players, or perform personnel rotation. This has the best effect.
In the current NBA, there are very few coaches who can achieve precise control. Most coaches still have to leave the fate of the court to the players.
The Thunder's situation is not much different from that of the Clippers. Brooks is similar to Tyronn Lue in terms of style. They are both good at delegating power, can have a good relationship with the players, and allow their players to exert their energy and take the initiative on the court.
But the difference is that before this game, Brooks did a lot of preparation work and made tight arrangements in terms of rotation, tactical goals and strategic intentions.
Obviously, the Thunder really want to win this game. From a tactical point of view, this is very important to improve the morale of the Thunder and verify the effectiveness of their tactics.
Strategically speaking, by winning this game, they can climb to first place in the Western Conference and have an advantage in the match record between the two sides, which is very important for the home and away advantage in the playoffs.
In high-level playoff competition, sometimes a home court can often determine the final outcome.
Sometimes when we look back at the entire process of a certain season, the outcome of a certain game is likely to play an important role in the championship.
The Thunder want to make a big splash this year, so starting from the first game, the team has made detailed planning. This game is obviously in their plan.
Their ferocious firepower at the beginning is the best proof.
After the official timeout ended, the two sides returned to the game, and the Thunder basically abandoned Perkins inside.
In the previous game against the Clippers, Perkins was stared at by the Clippers and the lesson was too profound.
The Thunder also began to try to use smaller lineups to allow Durant to participate in the interior defense, open up space on the offensive end, and increase the number of three-pointers.
Four seasons ago, in the 2009-2010 season, when Brooks first took over the Thunder, they were one of the teams with the fewest three-pointers in the league, averaging only 15 attempts per game, ranking last.
By the 2013-2014 season, their average three-point attempts per game had increased to 22, ranking in the middle of the league.
In terms of lineup, they have not added any three-point experts. The increase in the number of three-pointers is also in line with the development trend of the times.
During the counterattack, Durant picked up the ball and threw a three-pointer! Hit!
He is taller than when he first entered the league, and his arms are longer. Whether he can make a strong shot from beyond the three-point line mainly depends on his touch. As long as your defense is not close to the body, it is basically of little use.
The Clippers, led by the Thunder, also let go of their hands and feet to attack the Thunder. Anyway, the coach didn't say anything during the timeout, and he didn't ask him to defend well. Let's just attack with all our strength!
Curry caught the ball from the outside, faked a move to shake off the defender, broke through to the basket, and hit a high throw.
The Thunder served quickly from the backcourt, but Durant also didn't have the ball. He made a fake move from the baseline and cut into the basket to catch the ball and then dunked with one hand!
The Clippers players were not upset and did not stop. Gasol served from the backcourt and passed a super long-distance pass to the frontcourt. Leonard received the ball. The pass was a bit wide.
But Leonard's big hand still caught it, and then when he was about to cross the baseline, he passed a pass to George in the bottom corner.
George passed again and passed it to Curry at 45 degrees. Curry faked a break and passed the ball to Randolph on the wing. Randolph hit a mid-range jumper.
The Clippers' teamwork and tacit understanding were so pleasing to the eye, and Westbrook immediately set off the arena with his strong attack from the middle to kill the basket.
The two sides launched a crazy attack in the first quarter, and the coaches on both sides had no intention of applying the brakes.
For people who play basketball, offense is instinctive, while defense needs encouragement.
Give five people a ball, and everyone will find a way to get the ball into the basket. This is what any golfer will do.
But without the ball in hand, with your back to the basket, you have to defend the opponent. Without encouragement and teamwork, slacking off is inevitable.
The Detroit Pistons, known as the defensive powerhouse back then, were able to maintain their super defense for two seasons only under the crazy and paranoid whippings of Larry Brown.
When Flip Saunders took office, the Pistons naturally transformed into a strong team with smooth offense and achieved a better record in the regular season, but they also naturally dropped out of the championship competition.
The Clippers' offense was equally fast. Curry played the entire first quarter. He ran tirelessly on the court, attracting defenses, catching the ball and breaking through, and catching three-pointers.
Facing Curry's "off-ball singles", the Thunder's response was to let Westbrook handle it alone, try not to help defend or double-team, and focus more on attacking other Clippers. Defensively.
Don't end up with Curry failing to defend, and others failing to defend either.
Facing a team with top stars, the defense has always had to choose one of two poisonous wines. Either way, they will die, but the death will be less miserable.
The Clippers' defensive options are similar, except that they have more defensive resources. They will engage in a wheel-and-wheel battle with Durant to see who can outlast whom.
In the first quarter of the game, Curry scored 16 points, and the Clippers scored 35 points in a single quarter. The score in this single quarter was quite high.
But for the Thunder, Durant scored 21 points in a single quarter, and the Thunder scored 39 points in a single quarter! Just 1 point away from scoring 40 points in a single quarter.
This scoring efficiency is really amazing. It seems that the Thunder are determined to attack the Clippers and knock down the defending champion in a crazy attack.
Brooks set this tone before the game, so the Thunder's rotation tonight was particularly tight in order to keep the players in shape.
This is playing the regular season as a playoff game.
After the start of the second quarter, due to Harden's absence, the Clippers lost a super sixth man who can drive the offense.
Although Dragic is also very capable and Livingston has unique characteristics, neither of them is a top player who can lead an offense alone.
The Thunder have Eric Gordon. Gordon also suffered from injuries last year. He has recovered well this year and his offensive skills have become more comprehensive and mature.
Moreover, as for Gordon, there is really no one on the Clippers who can match him one-on-one.
Leonard, George, and Butler are all small forwards. The focus of defending Gordon is a bit high. Gordon will dribble continuously under his hips and then burrow his head inward.
If Della or Livingston were to defend him, Gordon would use his physical advantage to push his butt inward, get to the basket and force a layup.
In today's era of declining interior lines, heavy defenders like Gordon can be used as power forwards, just like today's frigates are comparable to destroyers.
In the second quarter, the Thunder gradually widened the point difference and established a lead. The Clippers' offense was also good, but the problem is that the Thunder's offense tonight was really thunderous and unstoppable.
By the time the main players of both sides came back on the court, the Thunder were already 55:48, leading the Clippers by 7 points. They were expanding their advantage step by step, hoping to turn their advantage into a victory in the second half.
Of course, the Clippers players would not sit back and let the Thunder achieve their tactical and strategic goals. Mike Malone finally woke up a little in the second quarter and no longer thought about the fuss.
He adjusted the team's defensive strategy during the timeout, asking the players to slow down the pace and let Randolph and Gasol play more in the low post.
However, Brooks anticipated the Clippers' strategy change. In the middle of the second quarter, Brooks sent Perkins and let Perkins and Ibaka guard the inside.
When Perkins plays for the Clippers now, he only plays for a while at the beginning of the first quarter, and for a while in the middle of the second quarter. The rest of the time, he sits off the court and watches his teammates' track and field team run wantonly on the court.
But the purpose of this short period of time is to prevent the Clippers from trying to stabilize.
stable? Stabilize the situation, then attack each other, speed it up for me!
Brooks had to speed up this game and get to the bottom of it. On defense, Perkins was almost fighting with Randolph, but he was not allowed to catch the ball easily and shoot easily.
Rather than committing a foul, Randolph went to the free throw line and made one of two free throws. Westbrook grabbed the backboard and ran towards the frontcourt, shifting gears and accelerating towards the basket.
Even though he suffered a serious injury last season and had knee surgery, Westbrook's speed and explosive power are still quite amazing. I have to say that this guy's body is really good, which is in sharp contrast to his brain.
Westbrook rushed to the basket. The Clippers didn't want him to dunk. Butler fouled and pulled him down. As a result, the two sides almost broke out in a conflict and started spraying each other under the basket.
But the referee's first reaction when he saw players from both sides exchanging insults was not to step forward to dissuade him. Instead, he turned his head and looked behind the Clippers bench to see what Min Congda's reaction was and whether this guy rushed down from the stands.
Seeing that Min Congda had his arms crossed and his legs crossed, showing no momentum for the tiger to go down the mountain, the referee took his time to mediate the conflict between the two parties, since the fight couldn't start anyway.
Min Congda watched the two sides playing vigorously on the court. It was very lively, but he was not happy in his heart. It was obvious that the Clippers were not as well prepared as the Thunder for this game. The Thunder was very targeted tonight.
Of course, this is normal. It is always the king who is targeted. How can a king target others every day? The Clippers' real enemy is only themselves.
The Thunder used a crazy fast-paced offense tonight, hoping to drag the game into a scoring contest and use the scoring potential of Durant, Westbrook, Gordon and others to completely suppress the Clippers.
Generally speaking, facing the Thunder's fast pace tonight and such a good offensive touch, the team would definitely kneel down at halftime. The weaker team is now more than 15 points behind. Then the Thunder began to stop and slowly stalemate, leading the opponent in the second half. gone.
Only a team like the Clippers, with players with strong personal abilities, can withstand the Thunder's crazy offense and contribute an offense with similar efficiency to hold the score.
But for some reason, there was obviously a problem with the adjustment of the Clippers coaching staff tonight. They did not defend well in the transition period between the first and second quarters, allowing Gordon to open up, and the situation fell into a passive position.
The balance of power gradually turned into a headwind situation.
With Westbrook hitting two free throws, the Thunder's lead reached 8 points.
This score advantage was maintained until the end of the first half, with the Thunder 73:65 Clippers.
At halftime, Min Congda was obviously dissatisfied with the team. He left his seat and went to the locker room to understand the situation.
(End of chapter)
