NBA: Starting with $20 billion, buying the Knicks

Chapter 450 Another Year Finals, Thunder VS Knicks

It's a bit irritating that, compared to the Knicks, who have always been underestimated, the Thunder was rated as a new-generation team that is likely to win the championship three years ago.

But now the Thunder has become a challenger instead.

The Knicks are the defending champions, and the Thunder have entered the finals for the first time since their establishment, although they have only been established for a few years.

From the moment the Thunder eliminated the Spurs, their bond was born.

The Spurs are going to shake the Knicks to become the Western Conference champion again...

The bond between the Spurs and the Knicks is actually quite deep. They have been helping each other since 09. Last year, the Knicks let Mills to the Spurs and suggested that the Spurs choose Leonard.

And Duncan modified a supercar for Jiang Chao, Ginobili helped Jiang Chao train Harden, Parker spoke to Jiang Chao, the Knicks president and chief assistant are all from the Spurs, and Popovich I have praised Jiang Chao and the Knicks countless times in front of the media...

So the Knicks must have liked the Spurs more than their relationship with the Thunder.

This is why the fans were already looking forward to the Spurs playing the Knicks when the Spurs 2-0 the Thunder at the beginning, because the more good friends, the more exciting the playoffs, and the more they can let go of all kinds of strength on the field.

The relationship between the Thunder and the Knicks can make fans write a book. After the two parties confirmed that it was a post with a bunch of die-hard fans, there were thousands of comments on the forum.

One is the story of Harden before the 09 NBA draft. Old fans said that if Jiang Chao hadn't taken over the Knicks suddenly, 99.9% of the second picks would have been Thunder.

At that time, Harden had been training with Dewey's second junior in Ohio State one month before the draft, and did not communicate with other teams. A reporter even took a video of Harden calling Durant's brother.

Everyone knows what happened later. President Prosti ruthlessly failed to fulfill the agreement with Harden and sold the second pick directly to the Knicks.

How close it was at that time, how awkward the draft was. Because Harden was "abandoned" by the Thunder, fans laughed at many posts.

When it comes to Harden, it is natural to talk about the person who replaced Harden.

Why change Harden?
Only Jiang Chao knew that he had to get Harden and Curry at that time.

But in the eyes of others, it was the Knicks' four traded players who asked for it themselves. The Four Heroes called the fans to protest against Jiang Chao's laying off of President Downey, changing the head coach and messing with the team... …

This is the most serious of the three fires that Jiang Chao's new official took office. He sent away all the four heroes who blocked the door, and it was okay to leave none of the people who opposed him.

But now the Thunder only have the three heroes who block the door. Grizzly was cut last season and announced his retirement on the spot. Only the 3-year-old Harrington, Little Tudou and Chandler are left. Still playing the main rotation position, and has been interacting with the Knicks in the past few years.

Especially Chandler, who was a second-year potential forward rookie selected by Dolan at the time, but was traded backhanded by Jiang Chao, wouldn't it be uncomfortable.

Although 3 years have passed, the dissatisfaction with Jiang Chao has always been there. After seeing the Knicks win the championship, it is even more sour. Now that they have reached the finals, they have to prove themselves in front of their old owners.

Little Tudou is not willing to give up the problem of pretending to be aggressive in front of his old owner. He has also criticized the Knicks this year because of Thomas Jr., choose such a 175 and not him as the 175 dunk king?
Coupled with the fact that he is the initiator of the Four Heroes, he was furious when he saw the Knicks.

But Howard saw that he was also furious, the person who took away my consecutive dunk championship, see if I don't risk my life?
Of course, there is also the 08 rookie Ibaka who was discarded by the Thunder in this deal. Ibaka also wanted to risk his life to the Thunder, but it was not Little Tudou, but the Wang Zha combination or the rookie Gibson that the Thunder picked that year, right? I just throw it away?Now I'm the block king and kill you! ! !

Speaking of Gibson, he may be the only happiest player on both sides. If he hadn't been for Jiang Chao's little suggestion to Mr. Pu in 09.

I don't know which team he is in now, but now he plays the starting power forward from time to time in the Thunder. The same style of play as Boozer was evaluated by the fans as the big Yao nemesis before the game.

He is very grateful to both parties. It is entirely thanks to Mr. Pu and Boss Jiang that he can stand on the stage of this finals, so he will naturally work harder in his own game.

In the end, it was naturally Jiang Chao's biggest regret.

That was Gallinelli, the Italian tough guy he didn't want to let go.

hello Italian cannon!

He is now an important striker rotation in the Thunder, which is equal to the two strikers of the Thunder. Chandler and Gallinelli are both imported by the Knicks. One is strong and the other is a shooter, so we can know how deep the relationship between the two teams is. up.

Some fans even worry that the Thunder will release water because of too many Knicks veterans.

But as the fans who really played said, there are no brothers on the court, "The fight will be harder if you know each other."

In fact, the Thunder also "copied" the Knicks' strategy on the coaching staff.

This is also what the Knicks coaching staff is most concerned about before the game. The Thunder's style of play this season has undergone tremendous changes.

After years of unfavorable coach Brooks, Pu always directly chose coach Donovan to be the head coach this year! !

This step can be said to be completely modeled on the Knicks' championship experience.

University of Florida coach Billy Donovan replaced Brooks as the Thunder's new coach.

It is worth mentioning that Donovan has no previous experience in coaching NBA teams, and these resumes are exactly the same as the young coach Stevens.

But in fact, Donovan was hacked into scum in the regular season. After the Spurs fell behind 0-2 in the playoffs and counterattacked, he also completely counterattacked in his life after defeating Popovich. GG resigned directly.

Donovan, the young coach who has reached the finals, is the favorite of Thunder fans, and the players' admiration for him is like a torrent of water.

With the examples of him and the previous young coaches, it can be said that there will definitely be a wave of appointment of young head coaches in the league. After all, the coaches of the two teams in the finals are not famous coaches.

But in fact, Donovan is very strong, and the young coach treats him as a strong enemy.

Donovan is also a well-known teacher. When he played for Providence University, he served as the starting point guard of the school team. His coach was NCAA coach Pitino, and his mentor and apprentice teamed up to lead the team to the 1987 National Final Four.

In the history of the NCAA, only four players entered the National Finals as a player and served as a coach to win the national championship. Donovan is one of them.

Donovan played in the NBA. He was selected by the Jazz with the 1987nd pick in the third round of the 22 draft (there were multiple rounds of the draft), but was soon cut by the Jazz.

His mentor, Pitino, helped Donovan. At that time, Pitino was already coaching the Knicks, and the team signed Donovan, so Donovan is still an old-timer of the Knicks. It really has a long history... The fetters of the two teams can be connected into a red line.

However, Donovan's player talent is too mediocre in the NBA. On behalf of the Knicks, he averaged 44 points and 2.4 assists in 2 games, and was waived again before the end of the season.

After leaving the NBA, Donovan went to work as a stockbroker on Wall Street, with little success.

At this time, Pitino helped his apprentice again and brought him into the coaching staff of the University of Kentucky. Donovan finally found the most suitable and promising job for him.

This is a little bit unlike the young marshal, and it is also the reason why the young marshal looks better than him.

Because the young coach didn't have any good teachers and helpful friends to help him along the way, and he never said that he would leave the basketball career. Even if he had a part-time job, he always insisted on the basketball path, including the final coaching at Butler University, which he fought for himself.

To put it bluntly, if Coach Stevens really mattered, he wouldn't coach this university with only 3000 students.

So Donovan is not very "inspirational" in the eyes of fans

After serving as an assistant at Kentucky for 5 years, Donovan went to Marshall University as the coach. This job was recommended by Pitino. This mentor is indeed a noble person in Donovan's life.

In 1996, Donovan went to the University of Florida to coach. He worked at the University of Florida for 19 years and led the team to complete two consecutive championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan's coaching career in the NCAA reached its peak.

The experience of winning these two championships laid the foundation for Donovan to enter the NBA later. The NCAA championships are all eliminated in a single game. Winning the championship all the way is the ultimate test of the coach's psychological quality and tactical adjustment ability.

In 2007, Donovan originally had the opportunity to coach in the NBA. He had accepted the offer from the Magic, but decided to stay at the University of Florida a week later. This wait is 5 years.

In the 2011-2012 season, he also entered the NBA after being "visited thatched cottage three times" by General Manager.

From then on the controversy began.

Not to mention imitating the Knicks, but the example of the young coach cannot be replicated in the entire league.

The Thunder's selection of Donovan has caused a lot of controversy. There are too many examples of NCAA coaches failing to coach NBA teams, and young coaches are one of the few successful ones.

Donovan's mentor Pitino's coaching experience in the NBA is not considered successful, and most other coaches such as Calipari who are in charge of the NCAA have failed to break out in the NBA.

Donovan replaced Brooks. The coach led the Thunder to win the playoffs every year. He has a high status in the hearts of both Thunder players and fans. As a rookie coach in the NBA, Donovan can replace Brooks and lead the Thunder to the next level. One floor?

Under Donovan's command, the Thunder had ups and downs in the regular season. Although they won 55 wins and ranked second in the Western Conference, there was no significant improvement in offense or defense.

Donovan's ability was strongly questioned by the media and fans, especially his rotation method and overly complicated defensive tactics, which became the focus of complaints. At that time, Donovan's mood was relatively broken.

But after that, he also slowly adjusted to the NBA's coaching rhythm, especially after the playoffs, he was like a duck in water, and successfully found the feeling of March Madness.

Jiang Chao also followed the Knicks coaching staff to analyze the Thunder's coaching changes in the Western Conference Finals. Donovan does have something to play against the Spurs to take the lead tactically.

Watching the video, you can see that starting from G3, Donovan has seized the weakness of the Spurs' internal degradation, resolutely played a big lineup, and sharpened his position. Odd, Parkinson, Nick Collison,
After successfully freezing Duncan, Shifo averaged only 3 points and 6 rebounds in the last 3.8 games, and his shooting percentage was only 35.9%.

Donovan's most impressive change on the defensive end is to minimize double-teams, and most of the game is one-on-one against the Spurs.

Donovan saw through the shortcomings of the Spurs. GDP is no longer the trio that could beat opponents bloody in singles. Tucker, you can defend me for one round or two rounds, can you guard against my All-Star attack?

The Spurs, who fell into the singles trap, averaged only 3 assists in the three battles after the series. The high-quality teamwork disappeared, and playing the Thunder one-on-one is no different from hitting a pebble with a pebble. The super strong Spurs were eliminated.

Both the media and the fans began to turn to Donovan.

The reversal of the Spurs series made Donovan and his Thunder "reborn", and their temperament was completely different.

"But I'm sorry, our players can kill them alone!"

After reading the analysis, Coach Stephen Kerr feels that the Thunder's tactic is not false at all. The Spurs' singles may have regressed, but the Knicks are a bunch of singles monsters.

They wouldn't be afraid if Donovan used this trick, and they also gnawed down the Heat at a slow pace in G5.

"Let's beware of them beating Wu Xiao."

While everyone was discussing the tactics Donovan had used, Jiang Chao gave a plan.

It's also something he worries about.

Donovan is actually very strong in later generations, so strong that the Thunder at that time could wrestle with the universe. At that time, they won the first game of the Western Conference Finals. After losing by 27 points in the second game, Coach Donovan took the initiative to adjust.

Jiang Chao still remembers this tactic, so he told his coaching staff now, because the Turtles and Durant really feel like they have infinite physical strength.

After the disastrous defeat that year, Donovan made a classic change, compressing the lineup to rotate with 6 to 7 players, with five minors against five minors, fighting for speed with speed.

Seeking opportunities to defeat opponents in a short period of time with a whirlwind rhythm, the Thunder's style of play has undergone fundamental changes compared to when they played against the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

This change had a shocking effect. The Thunder crushed the Warriors in two consecutive games, beating the Warriors who were seeking defeat in the regular season to the point where they had little power to fight back.

The wonderful thing about the Thunder's five minors is that they are taller, stronger and faster than the five minors of the Warriors of later generations, and their physical talents outstripped their opponents by a galaxy.

The Thunder's five juniors play a dislocation effect on the offensive end, one-on-one physical suppression on the defensive end, and infinitely switch defenses every time the Warriors pick and roll, no matter how they match up, they have a physical advantage.

The Warriors suffered a disadvantage in the speed battle of the five minors, and there was no advantage in the positional battle.

So the Knicks really have to beware of this, because the Knicks are also at a disadvantage in size. If they don't play the defensive tactics of the Spurs and choose to switch defenses infinitely, the Knicks' guards and strikers will feel very uncomfortable.

Famous teachers make great apprentices. Durant and Wei Shao in the Western Conference Finals that year seemed to have opened up the two lines of Ren and Du. Durant's defense reached the peak of his NBA career, especially in a small lineup.

Westbrook set off a brainstorm. You have never seen such a calm and steady Thunder 0, like the peak Kidd with enhanced athletic ability.

Shuang Shao was originally a combination of super firepower. When Durant's defense upgrades and Wei Shao injects rationality into the iron-blooded style, this is really unsolvable.

It's just that Jiang Chao felt that it was a pity that such a lineup, the second year Durant actually chose to join when he couldn't beat it, this is really incomprehensible.

However, it is undeniable that Donovan has brought tactical resourcefulness to the Thunder in this life and this season, and Jiang Chao can be sure that it is because of himself as the Knicks that the Thunder young coach came to the Thunder 3 years earlier.

He has brought a new look to the players on the spiritual level. He and his disciples have experienced difficulties this season, grown up in the difficulties, and finally killed a bloody dawn.

Now, they are getting closer and closer to their ultimate goal.

but!

The same goes for the young Knicks.

It's just that the goal that the Knicks young coach wants to achieve is not a championship.

It's three consecutive championships! ! !

Dynasty hegemony! ! !

Thunder VS Knicks, the battle between thunder and fire is about to break out! ! ! ! ! !

(End of this chapter)