I'm not really a role player

Chapter 285 Ultimatum
The disastrous defeat by a large score was something that the Thunder did not expect before heading to Charlotte. When they lost to the Bobcats in the preseason, they were still the Thunder that did not make the playoffs last season.

And now, as of the Christmas game, the Thunder are already in the Western Conference playoffs.

Thunder's progress is huge, and this can be seen from Xiaodu's performance.

In this game, Xiao Du resisted Li Ke's defense and finally scored 34 points.

If it was Xiao Du from last season, facing Li Kequan's surrounded defense, he might have raised his hand and surrendered directly.

It can be said that this season, Xiao Du's performance is at the MVP level.

The Thunder's disastrous defeat was more due to their teammates.

"Sheldon played too well. His singles are like fixed-point blasts, and he can always blow up the Thunder's defense. But I think the more important thing in this game is Stephen Curry's performance."

Kenny Smith started blowing directly. After explaining a few Bobcats games, he became more and more optimistic about the rookie who looked thin but actually played very tough.

As Kenny Smith blew, what is more important in this game is indeed Curry's performance.

The 27 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in the whole game are ignored for the time being. In Li Ke's view, what is more important to Curry is his ability to contain the defense and open up space.

Judging from the Bobcats' past games, the Bobcats always won easily when Curry broke out.

这场比赛也一样，靠着库里的牵制，李恪也拿下了33分5个篮板5个助攻2个抢断1个盖帽的全能数据。

Judging from the data, Li Ke is not much higher than Xiao Du.

Therefore, Xiao Du can indeed say: In this game, he lost because of the gap between his teammates.

But after the game, Xiao Du who waited for Li Ke on the sidelines just shook hands with Li Ke and said goodbye, without saying anything else.

"Don't be so sad, KD, it's just a regular season."

"I know……"

Little Du paused, then waved:

"See you in Seattle, Sheldon."

Xiao Du may blame his teammates, but he will never blame his teammates face to face. When losing, it is indeed Xiao Du's style to be taciturn.

Just like this, Xiao Du was sent away. In the infield of Time Warner Center, Li Ke was pulled away by Yang Wu's reporter and asked a few questions.

TNT didn't come to the door. The reason was that Kenny Smith in the commentary strongly demanded: "I'm tired of listening to Sheldon's interviews, Craig, go ask Stephen Curry, I want to know why whenever the focus is on, his performance will be more than usual."

Therefore, the interviewer of the man in colorful clothes changed from Li Ke to Curry.

Curry is also very honest. Once the question Kenny Smith wanted to know was raised, he answered truthfully: "Actually, what these two games have in common is that Shelton gave me some autonomy, allowing me to play freely."

As far as this answer is concerned, on the surface, there is no problem at all.

But the man in colorful clothes asked in amazement, "Sheldon gave you some autonomy? Why Sheldon, not Sam Vincent?"

"Uh……"

Curry rolled his eyes and thought for a second, and continued to tell the truth: "The coach's requirements for me are completely different from what I did in these two games..."

In this way, consciously or inadvertently, Curry sold Sam Vincent.

Perhaps in a short period of time, there is nothing to be seen from his answer.

But once the Bobcats' record declines, Sam Vincent can only be blamed.

Li Ke didn't know all this, because at the same time, he was accepting the post-match interview of Yang Wu, and when the interview was over, Curina's interview was also over.

Amid the applause and cheers of the sparse Time Warner Center, Li Ke and Curry walked into the player tunnel side by side.

"I really want every game to be like this game..."

Curry suddenly expressed emotion, and Li Ke shrugged. He knew exactly what Curry wanted to express, but he was powerless.

……

On the other side, in the visiting locker room at the Time Warner Center, just after the game, Scott Brooks got a call from Sam Presti.

It's not asking questions, but just discussing the game that ended in a disastrous defeat, with the focus on Daluo's use.

"KD's role positioning, the number of ball possessions, and all aspects are all right. Raja's problems have always existed. Putting those problems aside, he is still one of the best point guards in the league. The biggest problem is still Brook..."

"A center who can't protect the rim is too big a problem. He means we will never be a defensive team."

"And defense has always been the foundation of a championship-level team..."

Scott Brooks obviously understands all this best. After his analysis, Sam Presti on the phone was silent for a moment, and then asked:

"So, Scott, do you think we should give him a little more time?"

"If there is no good choice, I tend to give him a little more time, but our growth period will have to be greatly extended."

"Then extend it..."

To put it bluntly, no matter how big Luo's frame protection problem is, this season is only his sophomore season. In the future, he still has a lot of room for growth.

And, this era is the era of withered centers. How easy is it to send Da Luo away and find a stronger or more suitable frame-protecting center?

Including Rondo, Rondo during the Celtics period, the problem of free throws and long-range shots is indeed very big.

But later, as he got older and his peak had passed, Rondo actually solved his long-range shooting problem, and relied on experience to achieve the effect of getting older and more monster.

This shows that Rondo's problem is not a big problem, including Daluo. With the development of the times, after he developed a three-pointer, his type of center has become more and more popular.

Speaking of which, the Thunder in the previous time and space rose rapidly, relying on the three future top stars of Xiaodu, Serena, and Harden.

In this time and space, Serena and Harden were replaced by Daluo and Rondo, and the speed of the Thunder's rise was about to be greatly delayed.

Poor little Du has been holding back all his energy, trying to catch up with Li Ke's progress. Looking at it now, he himself has no problems, but his teammates still have a long way to go.

……

Turning his attention back to the Bobcats, Curry made another successful solo performance, which seemed to slap a lot of people in the face.

Charles Barkley may still be able to use the reason of "he just broke out" to postpone the moment of slap in the face.

Sam Vincent couldn't do it anymore, and Li Ke came to force the palace again.

"Sam, you can see Stephen's performance. I seriously think that as long as we go back to 2008, we will still be the champion team!"

Li Ke's words are not empty talk or big talk, he is very aware of the strength of the rookie Curry.

In his previous life, Curry averaged 14 points per game while taking just over 17.5 shots per game.

If there were more ball possessions, Curry, who averaged 20 points per game, would not be a dream at all.

And Li Ke, who has been improving this season, all he needs is a teammate who can share the pressure. Curry can do this, and as long as he can do this, the Bobcats' level can be raised to another level.

"Sheldon, the coaching staff has the coaching staff's considerations."

"All right……"

Sam Vincent's response did not meet Li Ke's expectations.

He knew that Sam Vincent was headed towards the end of get out of class.

……

In the two games at the end of December, the Bobcats first went away and beat the Raptors.

Then he returned to the home court, but lost to the Bucks in an upset.

An upset is not an upset, because the Bucks are indeed restraining the presence of the Bobcats.

Brandon Jennings ravaged Curry's defense, Tony Allen... yes, Mr. Tony, in the Ramon Sessions trade, he was sent to the Bucks.

In this game, Mr. Tony's defense ravaged Li Ke's offense.

Both sides were ravaged, plus backup Jody Meeks crazily opened his [-]-pointers.

A variety of factors combined, and the Bobcats lost the game.

One win and one loss ended 2009.

Then came the beginning of 2010, and that chaotic and crazy summer was getting closer and closer.

On January 1, the Bobcats had a hard time beating the Cavaliers.

Immediately after the next day, in back-to-back battles with the Heat, the Bobcats lost another difficult game.

On the 5th, the Bobcats beat the Knicks.

Two days later, they lost to the Bulls in another bitter battle.

On the 9th and 12th, the Bobcats won consecutive victories over the Grizzlies and Rockets.

On the 15th and 16th, the Bobcats lost to the Spurs and the Suns at home.

In this way, the victory and defeat of the victory and defeat... The difficulty of the Bobcats is already obvious.

……

The Bobcats' decline came suddenly. After all, just a moment ago, they were still in the much-anticipated Christmas battle, killing the so-called Young Guards Thunder by a large margin.

In the next second, they began to be steadily output by the strong team and upset by the weak team.

Li Ke, who is not surprised by this, is carrying out his daily improvement and training in an orderly manner.

Boss Joe was in a hurry——

Early in the morning, in the Bobcat training hall, Li Ke was practicing his low position.

Boss Qiao, who was seeing nothing but the dragon, suddenly pushed open the outer door of the training hall, and then stood by the court, watching Li Ke silently. Under the guidance of Tim Graver, he turned around and hooked the ball in the low position, and sent the ball into the basket.

"You have a very good attitude. If I were to defend you, you would have already eaten a hot pot."

Jordan seemed to be pretending to be aggressive. Li Ke didn't poke him, maybe he couldn't. He could only spread his hands: "I'm just a beginner in low post attack."

"Okay, Sheldon, you know your regular season MVP trophy is going away?"

As soon as the topic changed, Boss Qiao had already cut to the chase.

Li Ke suddenly lost his smile and fell silent.

Indeed, as Boss Joe said, if the Bobcats' record at the beginning of the season continues, Li Ke really has a chance to win this season's regular season MVP.

But now, with the slide from the end of December to the beginning of January, the MVP has indeed gone far away from Li Ke.

She shook her head and spread her hands: "I know, but..."

Li Ke walked to the sidelines and rested against the basket.

"What can I do? Michael, you are GOAT, you should be able to see the problems of the current team."

"No second scoring point?"

"No, we had a second score, maybe even a third, but the problem is, someone gave up the second, the third."

"You mean, Sam?"

Li Ke nodded: "Now the entire NBA knows how to beat us. If we don't change, we can only wait for death."

Waiting to die is an exaggeration. With the current strength of the Bobcats, even if they can't enter the championship favorites, second-rate teams are still fine.

To put it simply, it is very possible to reach the second round or even the Eastern Conference Finals in the playoffs.

But the finals?Forget it!
The triangle offense only plays on Li Ke's side, which is equivalent to walking on one leg, walking with a limp, and will definitely be targeted in the playoffs. Only in the East, the Bobcats have a few opponents that are destined to be defeated, such as the Magic...

"What the hell was Sam thinking?"

Boss Qiao frowned, but Li Ke continued to shrug his shoulders and spread his hands, wanting to say that he didn't know either.

But in fact, Li Ke knew it.

It is nothing more than that Sam Vincent has passed the stage of his lack of self-confidence, from extreme self-confidence to extreme self-confidence.

And extreme self-confidence, in other words, is conceited.

The conceited Sam Vincent could no longer listen to any suggestions. He even thought that Li Ke was always interfering in the work of the coaching staff and was challenging his authority.

In this case, the more Li Ke said, the more counterproductive it would be.

"I'll talk to Sam."

Boss Qiao left this sentence, and then left.

Li Ke spread his hands again. He knew that it was not that simple to get Sam Vincent out of class.

You know, the relationship between Sam Vincent and Boss Joe is not just a boss and an employee, they are also old teammates and friends in life.

chat?

Li Ke, who watched Boss Qiao leave, shook his head. He really wanted to tell Boss Qiao, stop chatting, I really can’t go on talking, hurry up, let’s go straight to get out of class!

But the problem is, this is not Li Ke's style.

Li Ke would still think of the Sam Vincent two years ago, and he felt that it would be difficult for him to get to the point of tearing his face with Sam Vincent.

……

Also within Li Ke's expectation, Boss Joe found Sam Vincent, and after some communication, he got——

"Are you questioning my tactics? Michael, that's the triangle offense. You won six championships with him!"

"Is there anything wrong with giving the ball to Sheldon? Phil Jackson did that too."

"The team's poor record is due to the ghost!"

Insider said, that's why Sam Vincent found it.

Maybe he really thinks so, just like the magic bird in the football world, every time he fails, he thinks it is the problem of the inner ghost.

"The ghost? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Michael, even I'm sure, the guy is Stephen Curry, give him the ball and he'll be great, but let him play without the ball and he'll slump right away."

"A rookie, I let him play off the ball, is there a problem?"

"Even Shelton started off the ball."

"..."

Boss Joe frowned, ghost?He expressed doubts.

But at the moment, he can only give Sam Vincent an ultimatum: "No matter what, Sam, I need to see the team rebound in the next half a month!"

This means that Sam Vincent only has the last half a month left.

No matter whose fault it was, after half a month, as long as the record didn't improve, Sam Vincent would have to leave.

(End of this chapter)