The Godfather of Basketball

But as Stevens said, Westbrook and Harden now have a lot to improve in order to become Paul and Harden of the Rockets at that time.

This is the same plan as he wants to develop Ibaka, with goals, but it will take time.

In other words, they can put out the lineup they want to experiment with at certain periods of the game, but it won't be the team's regular lineup for the time being.

"Westbrook will still be the starter," Tang Tian said.

Westbrook has a stronger personality and has always been the starter in the past. It is definitely not appropriate to withdraw. A better transition method is to let Harden continue to be the sixth man, and wait until he is no longer a defensive loophole before mentioning the starter.

Stevens considered it from the tactical level, and Tang Tian also had to consider the atmosphere within the team.

"If Westbrook is the starter, then Kidd has to start with Durant and Ibaka on the front line, and Brown at the center." Stevens continued.

"Tactically speaking, the Cavaliers coached by Tang is of great reference value. Using Westbrook's breakthrough and Durant's off-ball pick-and-roll forelimb defense, looking for opportunities for point guards, let everyone participate in the offense, instead of relying on The stars go to singles."

Stevens said and turned his gaze to Wharton.

"On the defensive end, I think Luke is right. In addition to improving the player's single-defense ability, considering our players' talent in movement, it is very necessary to assist in double-teaming."

At this moment, Tang Tian raised his head and glanced at the other teaching assistants.

After listening so much, they also knew that Stevens had something in his stomach, and they all nodded one after another.

"What Brad said is basically the same as what I imagined, but there is one thing, we can adjust the lineup according to the opponent. When encountering a team with average inside strength, we can consider using the inside combination of Diaw and Ibaka. Dior's coping ability can be utilized," Tang Tian added.

This time, everyone including Stevens nodded one after another. Diaw's organizational support was proven in the Spurs last season. If he starts, he will greatly improve the team's offense and defense.

Of course, as Tang Tian said, it depends on the opponent. If you ask Dior to play against Yao Ming or Howard, then he will really feel wronged.

After discussing tactics, the next step is player positioning and training.

Westbrook: His ability is outstanding, but he must learn to play more reasonably. Now that he has been established as the core of the team's tactics, he needs to organize and let his teammates participate in the offense.

In fact, in the previous life, Westbrook also performed reasonably in the 2015-16 season, and was called a "reasonable turtle" by the fans, which shows that he has potential in this area. In the previous life, it was only because of Durant's accident Running away finally let go of the self.

Harden: Harden is still in the growth stage, but he must learn how to defend, which is the key to whether he can appear in the starting lineup.

In the previous life, Harden became a "eye defense" player because of an elbow from Artest. Now this incident will most likely not happen, but Harden is still a qualified defender. This is where he must improve .

Durant: Durant is a historical scorer, but he also needs to improve his passing and defense. This is the key to whether he can become a star at the same level as James.

Ibaka: Ibaka needs to build muscle and increase confrontation during the offseason and in the future. This is the key to his change to the fifth position in the future. After all, even for a center with a small lineup, top man and protection of the penalty area are necessary Ability, of course, the shooting must be connected, and the mid-range three-pointer is also indispensable.

In his previous life, Ibaka suffered serious injuries in the playoffs, which led to a sharp decline in his athletic ability and completely lowered his upper limit. Tang Tian's training position for him now must be an enhanced version of Green.

Diaw: Diaw needs to gain weight and play center in the summer, which is also the key to his ability to start with Ibaka in the new season.

PJ Tucker: Tucker also needs to gain weight and muscle, and also train three-pointers. Tang Tian expects him to be able to swing in the 3/4 position.

Tucker was at the 5th position when he was in the Rockets in his previous life. He has a strong adaptability and a tough style of play. He is a rare high-quality role player.

Other rookies are also cultivated according to their own directions. Whether they can squeeze into the rotation lineup depends on their respective performances.

With tactics and training direction, the team's starting lineup and rotation are basically determined.

Regular starting lineup: Westbrook, Kidd, Durant, Ibaka, Kwame Brown.

Rotation lineup (in order): Harden (sixth man), Diaw, PJ Tucker, Sefolosha.

Bench players: Middleton, Reggie Jackson, Collison.

Inactive roster: Bazemore, O'Quinn, Cole Aldridge.

After the tactics and rotation are all determined, the next step is training and training.

Before the players organized training spontaneously, Tang Tian issued a training call to the players in the name of the coaching staff when the time was still in early September.

This summoning order is not mandatory, but most of the players, including the fourth young master, basically returned to the team immediately.

Last season's finals led 2-0 and was pulled for 4 games in a row. The players were more or less suffocated.

With the players in place, the Thunder's coaching staff began to train and train the players as planned.

The more interesting thing is that Dior indulged himself more during the offseason and gained a lot of weight. At this time, the weight gain is avoided, and he can just train his muscles.

Just after the start of the training camp, the Thunder signed three players with non-guaranteed contracts, forward DeAndre Liggins, center Daniel Orton and Walker Russell.

In the first training session, Tang Tian discovered a relatively positive scene.

After Westbrook misses a pass, Kidella guides him from the sidelines.

Westbrook nodded while listening, with a serious expression.

This means that Kidd can live in town, and Westbrook probably has a hard time hearing it.

Durant and Ibaka were also in a good mood, laughing and chatting from time to time during the break.

It can be felt that this team has fully recovered from the loss of last season.

But the only one who is not too emotional is Harden.

Perhaps it was because he knew that he hadn't made it into the starting lineup. His fighting spirit on the court was not high, and he was looking around during the break, playing with his not-so-long beard from time to time, looking a little absent-minded.

When the training was over, the players went back to the locker room to take a shower one after another.

Tang Tian called Harden over alone at this time.

Although the two had no contact before this, Tang Tian still knew that Harden was a very strong player from the memories of his previous life.