rpbooks Chapter 360
Chapter 360
Chapter 360
Trail Blazers players know that no team has ever been able to reverse the promotion from 0 to 3, so in other words, now they have firmly got a ticket to the finals, just need to win another game .In their view, the entire Thunder team should have no fighting spirit.
McMillan did not see the change in everyone's mentality, after all, in the training session, everyone did their best as usual without any slack.Even if there was a little slack occasionally, he regarded it as a sequelae caused by fatigue after the three-game series, so he didn't think much about it.From this point of view, the head coaches may need to learn more psychology courses, so that it may be easier for them to coach the team.
The contempt for the opponent and his own slack caused the Blazers to fall into a disadvantage at the beginning of the fourth game. Before McMillan could react, the Thunder had already played a 15-0 climax under the leadership of Durant , Thunder fans cheered for the good state of the home team.Obviously, the Thunder do not intend to sit still. Even if they are eliminated in the end, they still hope to reach a tiebreaker with the Blazers. Of course, it would be even better if they can break the curse of 0 to 3.
Although the start of the last game was almost the same as this one, McMillan's reprimand did not have the same effect as before.The strings in the hearts of the Blazers players have been loosened, and it is difficult to make them tighten quickly.Even if they were scolded by the head coach, few players on the field really came to their senses. Perhaps the alarm bells sounded in their hearts, but they couldn't play a decent performance, even if they fell behind at the beginning double digits.
On the contrary, Durant exploded his own small universe on the side of the Thunder, and he did not focus on scoring as he did in the previous three games. After attracting the defense, he would pass the ball to his teammates. Both Ibaka and Sefolosha got Got his assist.Naturally, Westbrook is not far behind. He finally started to play like a real point guard, not a shooting guard in the name of a point guard.Driven by the two of them, Lei Ting's desperate bet has achieved very good results.
McMillan was a little angry. He didn't expect his players to perform so badly when they got the match point in the series. After all, the team reached the finals last season. He always thought that the players of the Trail Blazers is not lacking.But after thinking about it, it seems that last season has never been so smooth, especially in such an important stage of the Western Conference Finals. After leading the opponent 3-0, it was a little swollen. After all, this is a young guard. .
In fact, McMillan really wanted to use the bench to replace the starters as a punishment, but he didn't have the courage.The Thunder's main lineup has obviously played at their level, and putting the substitute lineup up is just a gift.But he can replace a few of them, such as Aldridge, who looks lazy and has no desire to attack, and Cunningham, who is not as stalking as before.
The internal reasons of these two people are very different. Aldridge himself has a relatively peaceful personality, or he can be weak. When the opponent shows a tough attitude, it is difficult for him to play at a normal level.As for Cunningham, the most critical problem is that he is still too young. As a rookie, his ambition is obviously not qualified. The previous performance is just a normal reaction of a person taking on a big responsibility at the beginning. It is not bad to be able to last three games. .
After replacing Camby and Batum, the Blazers' lineup on the court was much easier to play, but they still couldn't prevent the Thunder's indiscriminate bombing, and they were already behind by more than 20 points at the end of the half.This is unbelievable for the Blazers leading 3-0 by a big score. If anyone walks into the court now, he will definitely think that the positions of the two sides on the scoreboard are wrong. Shouldn’t the Blazers lead by a big score? ?
The reporters on the media table were also surprised and inexplicable. From the first three games, it was obvious that the overall strength of the Blazers was superior, and McMillan's formation was not lacking in bright spots, but now the fact is that the Blazers were defeated by the Thunder. They were pressed to the ground and beat violently, and they didn't know why.
The small group of reporters who were also commentators was also embarrassed. They all vowed in the report before the game that the Blazers could sweep the Thunder 4-0 and reach the Finals for the second consecutive year.Now it seems that the possibility of reaching the finals is still very high, but the score on the field made their analysis of 4-0 a joke. An embarrassing thing.
In the locker room, McMillan was no longer in the mood to swear. He watched the team members sit there silently with big towels covering their heads, and had to swallow every swear word in their throats.It is useless to scold now. From the performance of the Thunder, it can be seen that they are in full swing. Such an abnormal opponent may not be able to win even if the Blazers try their best, let alone their morale has dropped to an unbearable level. degree of confidence.
In addition, this is the Chesapeake Energy Arena, basically every team is very difficult to play at home, so in order to ensure the team can advance smoothly, McMillan made a decision, that is, to strategically abandon this competition. In the game, by the way, let the main players reflect on themselves and see where they are not doing well enough.Although he didn't say this decision publicly, when he announced the starting list for the second half, everyone knew what the head coach was going to do.
Every starter is ashamed, and they know it's because they performed so poorly that the head coach had to choose to give up the game.Ye Feng was more ashamed than the others. As the leader of the team, he failed to stand up and guide his teammates at all, and he didn't even make any contribution on both offensive and defensive ends. This is not what a top star should do.Ye Feng didn't have any complaints about the head coach's behavior of substituting him. He knew that he asked for it. Seeing the substitutes being brutally abused by the Thunder, he secretly clenched his fists. At least this wasn't a tiebreaker. The team still has a high probability of qualifying.
In the end, the Thunder won by 131 points 102-29 at their home court, tying the score to 1-3.Although everyone thought it was Thunderclap's dying struggle, at least they saved their lives and avoided the embarrassment of being shaved.
(End of this chapter)