1121. Team Competition Mode and Teammates

"Brother Jimmy, you are here for training too?"

"The coach told me that my playing time will be increased, but my mid-range shot needs to be improved, so I will practice more when I have time."

"Oh..."

At 11 o'clock this morning, Sun Ce and his teammates came to Oklahoma City. They will play against the Thunder tomorrow. The other teammates are resting. Randolph played for 24 minutes yesterday and was exhausted. The coaching staff did not even arrange Randolph's weight loss training today. Sun Ce thought he would come to the Thunder's home team training ground to train alone, but he did not expect Jimmy Butler to come too.

Without talking too much, the two practiced at the Ford Center. Jimmy Butler practiced mid-range shots and defensive movement, while Sun Ce continued to practice top arc three-pointers and crossover changes of direction.

Sun Ce felt Jimmy Butler's ambition. In order to get more playing time, this guy practiced crazy training to improve his basic skills.

From having almost no skills when entering the NBA, not even knowing how to use his physical fitness and only knowing how to fight, to being selected as the second defense in the third year, winning the Most Improved Award in the fourth year and being selected as an All-Star reserve, a strong heart, a tough character, and a strong ambition... all of these are indispensable!

Sun Ce knew when he was chatting with Coach Hollins on the plane that this season, except for him, Sun, the playing time of others will be relatively even. Even if Randolph loses weight successfully later, his playing time will be lower than before.

The tone of the new season has been set. After discussing with the Grizzlies coaching staff and management, it was decided to strengthen the training of Sun and strive to defend the championship at the same time.

They have no experience as defending champions, and everything is done by feeling the stones. In this case, they will find their own way to defend the title according to the most suitable playing style for the team lineup and player characteristics.

To build the strongest defense, surpass the defense of the Spurs and Pistons at the beginning of the century, and surpass the defense of the Celtics in the 2007-08 season, this is the most suitable strategic goal for the team and the best feasible strategy.

At the same time, the running and gunning lineup led by Nash was retained.

To achieve the strongest defense, the 13-man activation list is an extremely favorable new rule for the Grizzlies. In addition to the running and gunning lineup, they need to maintain high-intensity defense throughout the game. When running and gunning, they also need two or three players to block the opponent's attack to the basket and the main shooter to shoot three-pointers. Players need to do their best on both offense and defense. When playing defense, offense needs to do their best, otherwise it will be difficult to score, and the consumption will inevitably be very large.

Even young players like Paul George and Klay Thompson will have a decline in efficiency if they play for more than 30 minutes under such strong consumption.

Because there is no buffer opportunity, just like yesterday's game against the Heat, the whole process was high-intensity, and the Grizzlies' 13-man rotation did not have a physical crisis like the Heat's 9-man rotation.

Moreover, even if they play run-and-gun, it will not be as easy as the Suns back then. The Suns' run-and-gun style was a relaxed style of play. After all, with 8 players rotating, they would not run hard all over the court. But Nash's playing time is now limited to 20 minutes. Of course, he must make good use of these 20 minutes. He must go all out every second and try his best to score when the team's best offensive lineup is on the court...

In this case,

Jimmy Butler, who has entered the rotation lineup, will definitely get more playing time.

If two people are rested, then Beverly and Crowder will also get more playing time.

Maximizing the use of the players the team has is the current strategy of the Grizzlies.

Sun Ce and Jimmy didn't communicate much. They practiced their own. After practicing two sets of shooting or footwork training, they communicated more, and it was not a chat, but a one-on-one match between the two.

After practicing for an hour and a half, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Paul George and five young teammates including Beverly, Crowder, Klay Thompson, and Larry Sanders also came to practice.

Since playing time is competitive, anyone can compete, and everyone's enthusiasm has been mobilized.

Jimmy is more like a big brother than Sun Ce. Beverley and Claude came and warmly invited them to train together. The three of them are the last players on the team's bench, and they are warm together.

At first, everyone thought that Beverley looked fierce and might be difficult to get along with, but after Sun Ce praised Beverley for his temperament as a defensive leader before the start of the season, his teammates began to try to contact him and found that he was a fierce person on the surface but very fanatical in his heart. He was like a mad dog when playing, and he and Jimmy Butler got the nickname "Mad Dog Brothers", but after more communication, they found that he was very righteous and enthusiastic. His temper was not very good, but people always have shortcomings, and it's okay if the advantages outweigh the shortcomings.

Larry Sanders still not many people really understand him, but at least they know that he is not really withdrawn. There are still a few teammates who are willing to communicate with him, but they never mention anything about "art" to him, otherwise they will be reflected.

But both of them are willing to help their teammates.

Klay Thompson and Paul George wanted to practice running, and asked Beverley to be their sparring partner. Beverley never refused.

Larry Sanders is not good at pick-and-roll, but he is good at defending pick-and-roll. When Sun Ce and Yi Jianlian practiced pick-and-roll, Larry Sanders and Beverley would come to practice with them every time.

As Claude gets to know his teammates better, his fiery personality gradually reveals itself. However, Claude, who has only played once and for only 3 minutes in the new season, is now in a depressed state. Since there are no back-to-back games in November, even if Nash takes a rest occasionally, he may not get a chance to play, and can only endure it slowly. After all, his strength is not even as good as Beverley's current strength, and he is the weakest player on the team.

Prince is happy to accept any arrangement of the team, and his personality is very calm.

Lopez Jr. is passionate. He fights when he has playing time, and waves a towel on the sidelines when he doesn't. He is the most enthusiastic teammate, which is completely opposite to Prince.

After playing 6 games from training camp to preseason and regular season, Sun Ce has more or less understood the new teammates, and also understood the personality changes of old teammates after a summer.

Klay's goal is to surpass Curry and become the strongest active pitcher. At least the current goal is to be better than top pitchers such as Korver, Redick, Ray Allen, and Morrow. He is positive and optimistic.

Paul George is the player Sun Ce can't understand the most. He seems to have a lot of ideas... If you don't understand, then don't understand. Sun Ce knows that Paul George is a teammate who tries very hard to win, and that's enough.

However, Paul George wants to compete with Klay Thompson for the best three-point shooter in the team, and Sun Ce feels this.

The personality of young teammates has changed a lot, but the old teammates haven't changed much. Randolph is lazier and Gasol is more selfless...

I don't want to be the boss

I don't want to be the boss